Lion's Heart
by xxxheartlandxxx14
Summary: Althea Morgan has always had a soft-spot for soft-spoken Marauders named Remus. But nothing has ever come of it, until their seventh year. The war with Voldemort intensifying, it becomes quite clear that Althea is no longer safe. Unwilling to let fear hold him back any longer, Remus decides to pursue Althea. But with a target on her back, will their love bloom or prematurely end?
1. Chapter One

**I'm terrible for starting fanfictions and never finishing them, but I'm determined to finish this one and Serpent's Kiss. Because I got a new laptop however, I have to move everything from my old one onto this one. Anyways, enjoy the first chapter of Lion's Heart.**

 ** _First Year_**

Althea Morgan, clenched her fingers in the folds of her robes as she stepped off the Hogwarts Express. It was her first year at school and she was undeniably nervous. She was the first of her family in centuries to attend a wizarding school, hailing from the fact that her family was comprised of mostly Muggles, however she knew that a few ancestors had been wizards or witches. Though she was only eleven, she wasn't naïve. She realized that being a Muggle-born witch, was practically the same as a death sentence in the world with the rise of Voldemort. Looking around, at the wizards and witches surrounding her she wondered how many of them agreed with Voldemort's opinions.

 _Probably too many,_ she thought. She felt tears gather in her eyes, and clenched her jaw to keep them from falling. She shuffled forward, keeping her head down. Someone bumped into her back, and she stumbled.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," the person who had bumped into her said.

Althea turned around, and smiled at the redhead, "You're fine."

"I should have been watching where I was going," the redhead said seeming to ignore Althea completely. Then she blinked and stuck out her hand, "I'm Lily Evans."

"Althea Morgan," she replied with a smile, shaking the girl's hand.

It was then she took notice of the dark-haired boy standing like a sentry over Lily's shoulder. Lily turned, following Althea's eyes and beamed.

"This is my best friend, Severus Snape," she said proudly.

Severus nodded coolly to Althea but didn't say anything. Althea smiled a little awkwardly and turned back to the front as Professor McGonagall led them into the Great Hall. Standing in front of the crowd of people, Althea felt her stomach drop. She hated being the center of attention. _At least it wasn't just me_ , she thought. Professor Dumbledore, stood up and without preamble began to read from a parchment of paper that had appeared out of thin air.

"Sirius Black!"

The Sorting Hat was set on the unruly black hair of a boy with glittering eyes, and immediately burst out, "Gryffindor!"

Boos and hisses erupted from the students clad in green and silver – _Slytherins,_ Althea thought – and the boy flushed, but raised his head proudly. More and more students were called up in front, but Althea hardly paid attention. Her eyes tracked the movements of a tall, lanky boy with sandy hair and golden eyes.

"Remus Lupin!"

The boy jumped and hurried up to the Sorting Hat. "Gryffindor!"

Althea glanced over her shoulder at the Gryffindor table where Lily was seated beside the boy with black hair – Sirius – and now Remus. _I hope I'm put in Gryffindor,_ Althea thought. _If I'm not I doubt Lily and I will even be friends anymore. From what it seems rivalry between the Houses are encouraged and friendships are not._

"Althea Morgan!"

Her stomach dropped. She ascended the steps and plopped down on the stool. Dumbledore smiled kindly at her, as the Hat was placed on her wild mass of blonde curls.

A pause.

Then, "Gryffindor!"

Althea beamed, taking the hat off her head and rushed over to Lily who greeted her exuberantly and introduced her to Sirius and Remus.

Leaning in close to her Lily whispered, "They seem nice enough, but Sirius seems like a prankster."

The disdain in her voice for the other boy made Althea fight a smile. Like her, it seemed that Lily was one who liked to follow the rules. Althea couldn't blame her; rules were put in place for a reason.

"James Potter!"

"Gryffindor!"

And just like that, everything in her life would change. Although she didn't know it yet.

 ** _Second Year_**

Lily scowled as the two girls walked to Potions together. James had once again asked her out, much to her humiliation. Althea could understand that it was annoying – he had been asking Lily out nearly every day, since first year after all – but at the same time, she thought that Lily should at least be a little flattered. Sure, James Pott was a prick at times and he had no respect at all for the rules but he was charismatic and cute, and he was able to make people laugh. With Voldemort continuing to rise in power, Althea figured that they all needed a good laugh once and awhile.

But that did nothing to change Lily's mind who maintained that James Potter was just a prick, and that was all he would ever be. They entered the Potions room, and Althea noticed Lily look toward Severus. She sighed. She felt bad for Lily, because from what she had been able to see Severus and Lily had been close but now they were in different Houses – Houses that hated each other – and their friendship while it was still strong, was not as strong as it used to be.

Laughing raucously, the quartet made up of Sirius, James, Remus, and shy, pudgy Peter Pettigrew entered the room. Lily wrinkled her nose and slammed her Potions book onto the table, sitting huffily in her seat as Sirius not-so-inconspicuously cast a jinx at Severus which made his cauldron fly high into the air. Every time he reached out to grab it, it would float away. Lily huffed through her nose and got to her feet irritably, whipping out her wand and saying the counter jinx.

"Grow up, Black," Lily snarled, sitting back down huffily in her seat again.

Althea glanced between the quartet of smug looking boys and Lily, a frown crossing her delicate features. Turning to Lily she wrapped an arm around her friend, "Don't let them get to you. They're just immature and it will get them in trouble someday."

She was proved right when ten minutes later, Slughorn walked in caught the boys horsing around and trying to mess with Severus and gave them all detentions.

"See?" Althea told Lily smugly as sullen expressions appeared on the boys' faces. "I told you so."

Lily only grinned.

 ** _Fifth Year_**

Third and fourth year were quite boring for Althea and Hogwarts in general. Nothing truly interesting had happened, aside from Remus, Sirius, James, and Peter coming to be known as the Marauders. Althea shook her head. _Honestly, they are so immature still_ , she thought. _Well, except for Remus_ , she amended. Out of all the Marauders the one that she liked the most was Remus – he was studious, didn't often get detentions, and was also quite good-looking. However, he was still a Marauder and that meant that he was off-limits, at least in Lily's eyes.

Althea could never understand why Lily seemed to detest the Marauders as a whole. Sirius and James, she understood, but Pettigrew was harmless and Remus was too sweet and smart to really do any harm. Unless of course the two of them went along with one of James's harebrained schemes. Althea finished her Defense Against the Dark Arts essay, and slammed the book closed leaning back against the couch. Lily walked into the Common Room just then, looking flushed and happy. Her face broke into a wide smile and Lily sped towards the petite blonde. Seizing Althea's arm, she pulled her up and into the corner of the Common Room where they were less likely to be overheard.

"Guess what?" Lily whispered, bouncing on her feet excitedly. Althea raised her eyebrows, a patient smile on her face. "Ryland Smith, that cute Ravenclaw Prefect, asked me out! Can you believe it, Thea?"

"No," Althea deadpanned. Lily frowned. "I'm just kidding Lils, of course I can. You're gorgeous and you're insanely smart, a perfect match for a Ravenclaw Prefect."

Lily sighed dreamily, "I hope you're right." She directed a scowl toward the Marauders, "I only hope that they don't mess this up for me."

Althea sighed, casting her own glance at the Marauders. She hoped that for Lily's sake they wouldn't mess this up. She hadn't seen Lily this happy about a boy since last year, when Lily had started dating Alaric Greene, a Hufflepuff. The two had only been out on a few dates, but Althea could have seen it going somewhere until James stepped in, played a prank on the poor Hufflepuff, horribly embarrassing him and declared Lily off limits. She would never forget the look on Lily's face as Alaric stumbled to the Hospital Wing, and refused to see her or accept her apologies. For days Lily was heartbroken, and when she finally snapped out of it she wasn't the same.

Now, looking at her friend, Althea was pleased to see that she had bounced back. But she wouldn't put it past James Potter to somehow ruin this for Lily.

"I can talk to him if you'd like," Althea volunteered.

Lily looked at her coyly, "You're only saying that so you can go talk to Remus." Her cheeks flared and she shook her head vehemently, but wasn't able to deny what Lily said. Lily sighed, "Alright. Good luck, then. I have to finish my Charms essay, and my Transfiguration essay."

With that Lily headed upstairs and Althea marched over to the Marauders, who looked startled. Remus ducked his head, his cheeks burning when his eyes met Althea's bright blue.

Pointing her wand at James Potter she said, "Lily going on dates is not a concern of yours. And so, help me Merlin, if you mess up any chance that she has at happiness I will hex you into oblivion."

James's eyes widened, "She has a date?"

Althea rolled her eyes. "If she does it is no concern of yours. You are not her friend, you are not her boyfriend, and you are not her brother, so it is none of your business. You ruined her last relationship, and you should not ruin any other relationships of hers. That goes for the rest of you." She sent a stern look at the other Marauders, and Pettigrew cowered in fear.

James raised his hands in a gesture of surrender but Althea didn't believe him.

"I mean it Potter. Leave her alone." She snarled, spinning on her heel and marching toward the girl's dormitory.

The shocked and surprised Marauders looked at each other, and then at Remus.

"I can't believe you like her Moony, she's absolutely mental!" Sirius gasped.

"Not mental, just protective of her friends," Remus corrected. He fixed James with a stern look, "This wouldn't have happened if you didn't continuously pine publicly after Lily, and try to get her attention."

"So, you're blaming me for this?" He snapped, frowning.

"He's got a point mate," Sirius said, and winced a little at the venomous look James directed toward him. "Hear me out, Prongs. You always pine after Lily, and if her attention isn't on you, you do something elaborate to gain her attention. Usually what you do is something negative like picking on Snivellus or some helpless first years, or pulling a prank in which she accidentally becomes the victim of. Maybe, just maybe you should lay off on your ostentatious displays of affection?"

"But how else will she notice me?" he mumbled, sounding like a lost child.

"I don't know," Sirius shrugged.

Remus jumped in, "Try to be her friend, James."

He seemed to perk up a little but not much. Then he slyly asked, "So how do you plan on getting Morgan's attention?"

The only response was a pillow smacking him in the face.

 ** _Sixth Year_**

"So, you and Ryland are still going strong?" Althea asked as she and Lily headed outside.

It was a surprisingly nice day, with the sun shining and no clouds. The air was a little humid, but overall it was a pleasant day, one that all the students of Hogwarts seemed to want to take advantage of. Lily nodded, smiling brightly as she pulled out a piece of parchment from her robes.

"He sent this to me last night," she told Althea dreamily. "I had no idea that he could be so eloquent."

Althea snatched the letter out of Lily's hands.

 _My dearest Lily,_

 _Words cannot express how much I have missed you. I truly wish that we could spend more time together but the duties of Head Boy are never-ending, however I am determined to find a way to spend more time with you. A Quidditch match is coming up, and as neither of us like the sport that much I was hoping that we could possibly find something to do together?_

 _Love,_

 _Ryland_

"I wouldn't say it's eloquent Lily, but it is rather sweet," Althea told her handing Lily the letter back. "So, are you going to skip the Quidditch match?"

"Of course," Lily said as if it should be obvious.

"I don't blame you," Althea murmured, "if I could skip the match, I would."

Lily smiled. Althea's cheeks burned and she ducked her head. Althea had never really held an interest in Quidditch, but she went as an excuse to sit next to Remus however she would often bring homework with her as she would quickly grow tired of the matches, finding them dull and rather boring. When he had seen that she did her homework during the matches, but was struggling with some of her subjects Remus had offered to help and Quidditch time turned into Althea and Remus time. Just thinking of spending time with Remus made her toes curl and butterflies formed in her stomach.

She wouldn't say that she knew Remus very well, but slowly they were growing much closer. Althea sighed. However long it took, she was willing to wait for him. She brushed a blonde curl behind her ears.

"Lily!" Someone shouted.

Both girls turned and Althea's grin fell a little when she saw Ryland. "Go," she told Lily who was looking longingly in the direction of her boyfriend. "I'll just do my homework by the lake."

Lily cast her an apologetic look, but Althea had already turned around, and rushed off to meet her boyfriend. Althea dropped her bag to the ground, and sat down, leaning against a tree. The breeze coming in from the lake felt nice against the hot air, and Althea sighed contentedly.

"What's this Padfoot? A Gryffindor all by herself without her usual partner in crime?" James's mocking voice asked.

Althea sighed, opening her eyes and frowning at the Marauders. "What do you want Potter?"

James shrugged, Sirius smiled lopsidedly, Peter shuffled his feet, and Remus's eyes just softened as he looked at her.

"Well if you don't want anything, please quiet down. I have plenty of homework to work on," Althea told them.

"Arithmancy and Ancient Runes?" Remus asked with a small, miniscule smile and the Marauders looked at him in surprise as Althea smiled back her cheeks flushing red.

"As a matter of fact, yes Remus." She looked a little unsure, "Would you mind helping me?" A surprised expression crossed her face and she hurried to explain, "It's just I don't understand anything at all. My last essay I got an Acceptable, and I'm afraid I'll do even worse now that we're moving onto the harder material."

Remus smiled then, a true, genuine full-blown smile. "Of course, I'll help you," he said, walking over and sitting on the grass beside her. "It is our normal homework day, anyways."

"Thank you," Althea breathed looking at him with gratitude.

He only blushed, and quickly began to explain the theory behind Arithmancy.

Perplexed James and Sirius looked at each other. In a whisper, James asked, "Since when did they get so close?"

"No idea mate," Sirius answered, equally as stumped. He looked at them for a minute, "They make a kind of cute, if not nerdy looking couple."

"We are not a couple," Remus and Althea said in unison without looking up from the Arithmancy book splayed across both of their laps.

Althea bit her lip, fighting a smile. Maybe there was hope after all.


	2. Chapter Two

**_Seventh Year_**

 ** _Voldemort Claims More Lives_**

 _Voldemort's reign of terror hasn't abated, even though for a moment there was peace and silence. June 16_ _th_ _, 1977 in a small, sleepy Muggle town, twenty Muggles were murdered. Half-bloods that also lived in the same town were killed as well. No one knows if Voldemort himself was there, or if it was the work of his Death Eaters but the fact remains that the times are unsafe. None of us are safe – save for the pureblooded wizards and witches that join him. But even then, there will always be the risk that he will kill you._

 _As a student at Hogwarts, I fear for my life. The Slytherins in Hogwarts have shown an unusual favoritism toward what he is doing, and specifically target Muggle-borns (Mudbloods is what they are called), and half-bloods. They practice the Unforgiveable Curses on animals or unsuspecting first years, and what is there to stop them from one day killing a Muggle-born wizard or witch? Yet, there has been no action. They are not disciplined or reprimanded, even when other students testify against them and bring the concerns to the professors. Someday, they will kill someone and it will be just an added fatality to the long list of lives that Voldemort has already claimed._

 _\- Althea Morgan_

She thought that it was a little surreal to see her article in the Daily Prophet. Althea had always had a passion for writing, something that had not diminished even as she grew older. Althea idly twirled her wand in her hands, wondering how many people had seen her article and if there would be backlash from Death Eaters or those who sympathized with Voldemort. She hoped not, but she had known the risk when she penned the article. Looking back on it she supposed that she should have looked at the possible consequences more carefully.

"Althea there's a letter for you!" Her mom called.

"I'm coming!" Althea shouted back, standing up and tucking her wand into the back pocket of her jeans.

Heading downstairs, Althea contemplated who the letter was from. Lily? Maybe, but she doubted it seeing as the Evans family was on vacation. Remus? No, he didn't really write letters often, and it was a few days after the full moon. She had a hunch that he wasn't feeling up to doing anything at the moment. James or Sirius? No, neither of them wrote letters and they weren't exactly the closest with Althea. So then, who would have written her a letter? Althea shook her head, clearing those thoughts.

She brushed her curls over her shoulders, ruffling her brother's unruly hair as she passed him and took the letter from her mom. She didn't recognize the script on the letter and she felt her brows furrow. Unfolding the letter, she scanned its contents and felt a smile bloom on her face. It was from Remus after all, but it didn't look his loopy scrawl.

 _Dear Althea,_

 _How has your summer been going so far? Mine has been alright, dreadfully boring to be honest and I've found out that I'm not Head Boy. Can you believe that James is? I suspect it's Dumbledore trying to get the two of them together. If the handwriting looks unfamiliar it is because I am dictating the letter to a charmed pen, as my arms feel too weak to lift anything even something as light as a feather quill._

 _I saw your article in the Daily Prophet – may I add that it was superbly written? But I worry now, more than ever that the Death Eaters will come after you with a new ferocity once they find out that you are also a Muggle-born. Please, do try to stay safe._

 _Always and forever your friend,_

 _Remus_

Althea sighed a little, but the smile from her face didn't diminish. At least he cared about her wellbeing. Folding the letter back up she tucked it into the pockets of her jeans. Saying not a word to anyone she headed upstairs to write Remus back, and assure him that everything was fine. After writing the letter and sending her owl Faith, to deliver it she headed downstairs feeling her eyes widen with shock as the twins – her youngest siblings – were standing in the middle of the kitchen, and around them floated the dishes. _They were doing accidental magic,_ she thought. _That means that they'll go to Hogwarts just like I did!_

Her younger brother, Alfie, would be attending Hogwarts this year and she had no doubt that he was going to end up in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw. Out of the four Morgan children, it seemed like all of them would be heading to Hogwarts. She smiled a little; even though they were all Muggle-borns they were still just as special as any other child of a witch or wizard.

"Althea!" Alfie whined from in the dining room. "Can you make them stop?"

She glanced at the twins who were watching the dishes with fascination. "It doesn't seem like they are doing any real harm Alfie."

He scowled at her, bright blue eyes flashing. "No," he said haughtily, "but they are distracting me from reading _Hogwarts a History_ , which I would like to finish before we head off next week. So, if you would please make them stop, it would be much appreciated."

Althea sighed. "I can't really do that, Alfie."

He frowned, "Why? You're seventeen, so it isn't against the law for you to use magic."

"I know that," Althea answered in return. "But they aren't doing any real harm, and they aren't even being that noisy. Look, if it's that big of an issue I'll make them stop, okay?"

Satisfied, Alfie nodded and returned to reading his book as Althea walked into the kitchen. With a flick of her wand all the dishes were sent zooming back into the cupboards, the twins staring at her with accusing teary eyes.

"Sorry," Althea told them apologetically but Ava and Evan didn't acknowledge that they had heard her.

She supposed she couldn't blame them, she had ruined their fun after all. _But really it was Alfie's fault,_ she tried to reason. _Oh, come off it Althea, you are seventeen year's old there is no need to blame your eleven-year-old brother for your actions even though he was the deciding factor,_ she scolded herself. Just then her mother – a pretty, slightly plump woman with graying hair named Veronica – and her father – a tall, robust man with blonde hair named Evander – walked into the kitchen, smiling and laughing. Evander came over to Althea, wrapping her in a hug and kissing the top of her head in a gesture of paternal affection.

"Ready to head back to school, Thea?" Evander asked, his arm tightening around her shoulders.

"I suppose," Althea answered. "I'll miss you guys, I really will but I love Hogwarts and I've missed my friends."

"You've missed your friends or you've missed a boy?" Veronica asked glancing at her daughter and Evander frowned.

Althea blushed, "Both?"

Veronica's gray eyes lit up. "Oh, tell me all about him, Althea? What is he like? Is he handsome? Is he sweet? Are you two dating?"

The flush on her cheeks deepened and she shuffled her feet. "Mom," she whined, "stop with all of the questions." She took a deep breath, "To answer your question no we aren't dating, for now we are just really good friends. See, he's a little different than everyone else and I'm not sure that he's ready to be in a relationship just yet."

"How is he different?" Veronica inquired curiously.

"Well, you see, he's kind of, sort of, a werewolf," Althea hedged. "He's not dangerous!" She hurried to assure her parents, "James, Sirius, and Peter make sure of that. But, he thinks that he is and he's often said that his condition is why he doesn't date. I don't want to pressure him, or ruin our friendship. So, I'm content to wait."

"That's awfully thoughtful of you Althea, isn't it?" Veronica said, looking at her husband with a small smile.

He only grunted.

"Anyways, there are bigger issues than my love life," Althea told her parents changing the subject. "Promise me that the two of you will be careful? With You-Know-Who gaining power and starting to attack Muggles openly, I worry about the two of you."

"Oh honey," Veronica sighed.

Evander squeezed his daughter's shoulders, "We'll be fine, Althea. We aren't going to be in England anyways. For the time being, we are relocating to America until everything settles down."

"Really?" Althea asked.

"Yes, dear. Plane leaves the day that you leave for Hogwarts," Veronica told her daughter. "Unfortunately, we won't be able to take you to the station. But we'll all head to the airport, and you can watch us fly away. I think that will put your mind at ease, don't you think dear? I've already contacted one of your Professors and she's agreed to take you and your brother to the station to get on the train."

"That's a relief," Althea said, feeling her body relax and some of the tension leave her body. "So, what's for supper?"

* * *

Althea hugged her parents and siblings' goodbye and watched them with sad eyes as they boarded the plane that would take them to America. It had been two weeks since her parents revealed that they were leaving the country because of Voldemort and while she was relieved, she was also a little sad that it had come to this. Althea reached down, grabbing Alfie's hand and tugged him over to where Professor Vesper was standing. The petite young woman, had a kind smile on her face as the two Morgan siblings approached and once they were with arm's reach she grabbed them by the shoulders and with a large crack Disapparated.

They landed on Platform 9 ¾ and Alfie promptly vomited into a garbage can, while Althea swayed on her feet feeling dizzy and sick.

"Thank you, Professor," Althea told her, before boarding the train, Alfie hot on her heels. "So, Alfie did you finish your book?"

"Yes," He answered proudly. "I'm now reading a book about how to invent your own spells. Mum and Da bought it for me when we were in Diagon Alley a couple weeks ago, getting our school supplies."

"Well I hope that you enjoy that book," Althea said. "I have to go meet up with my friends, Alfie, but if you need anything don't hesitate to ask me, a Prefect, or Lily. Okay?"

"Got it," Alfie said. She moved to walk away when he grabbed the sleeve of her shirt. Looking lost and scared, and with a small voice he asked, "Will we be safe here?"

Her eyes softened and her heart melted. "Of course, we will Alfie," she whispered. "Hey, I have an idea. Why don't you come sit with my friends and I? I think that you and Lily will get along really well, because she likes to read too."

He brightened a little. "Can I?"

"Of course, come on."

It took a few minutes of searching for Althea to find Lily. Shoving the door to the compartment wide open the two Morgan siblings stepped inside and Althea sat between Lily and Remus, with Alfie sitting across from her between James and Sirius.

"This is my brother Alfie," Althea told them. "Alfie this is Remus, Lily, James, and Sirius. James and Lily are Head Boy and Girl."

"Yup," James said smiling proudly.

"Unfortunately," Lily muttered.

"Anyways, Alfie tell Remus what book you're reading." She sent a pleading look to her crush, who upon seeing the look in her blue eyes immediately caved and sparked up a conversation with Alfred Morgan about the mechanics of spell-making, and eventually the two moved onto discussing the various subjects offered at Hogwarts.

Althea relaxed against the seat, pleased that Alfie was taking such a liking to Remus and feeling relief at the fact that so far it seemed that he would adjust just fine to life at Hogwarts. Looking at the two of them, she decided that Alfie and Remus shared some similarities. But she didn't dwell on those thoughts. Lily leaned close to Althea, smiling teasingly.

"Shut up Evans," Althea grumbled.

"Sorry, sorry," Lily apologized but she didn't sound apologetic at all. "Did I tell you, that Jack and I broke up?"

"No what happened?" Althea asked.

Althea smiled a little. Returning to Hogwarts was just what she needed.


	3. Chapter Three

**_Seventh Year_**

The Sorting was rather dull, the only time that Althea paid attention was when Alfie's name was called and to her surprise he was put in Gryffindor. Although she was surprised she also felt relief and happiness; it'd be easier for her to endeavor to protect him since they were in the same House. After the Sorting was over, they ate and it was relatively silent except for James sending a hex Severus's way. Althea wanted to be angry at him for hexing someone without provocation, but she also knew that on some level Severus deserved it at least a little bit. He was under Malfoy's thumb, was practicing Dark Magic, and worse was discriminating against Muggle-borns although he himself was a half-blood. In fifth year, she thought it was, he had called Lily a Mudblood.

Although it had been a few years since that incident, some part of Althea felt that he deserved punishment for that. Remus adjusted the sparkling Prefect badge on his robes and Althea looked down at her own Prefect badge. Fingering the pin, she smiled a little. She remembered how excited she had been to receive the badge in her fifth year and how hopeful she had been to become Head Girl eventually. However, even though she was not Head Girl she was content with the fact that she was a Prefect. As the other Houses moved to leave, Lily stretched up on her tip toes and shouted for the Gryffindors to stay put. Althea and Remus approached the frazzled redhead who looked at them pleadingly.

"Remus, can you lead them to the Common Room with James?" Lily asked. He nodded, and she sighed in relief. "Thea, can you help me devise a schedule? I'm worried about the fifth-year Prefects you know, they don't have as much experience and some of them are more concerned with being liked than doing their job."

"Sure Lils," Althea agreed readily, "Shall we go?"

The two girls departed for their dormitory, as Remus and James tried to keep the students in order. Lily told the password to the Fat Lady, and they headed up to the separate seventh-year dormitories. Their trunks were lying on their respective beds and Althea noticed that Lily's hands were shaking.

"What's wrong Lily?" Althea asked, looking at her best friend softly.

"I'm just nervous. NEWT level classes, and being Head Girl. It's a lot to deal with, and even worse Potter is Head Boy," Lily grumbled a frown marring her usually soft features. She sighed, "Anyways, patrolling schedule." She looked pleadingly at Althea, "Help."

Althea sat beside Lily on her bed and took the piece of parchment, scribbling out a rough schedule as she spoke. "Have the Hufflepuff Prefects patrol together – they'll get eaten alive by Slytherin, and they're too intimidated of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. Have the Ravenclaw and Slytherin Prefects pair up, but make sure that the Ravenclaw Prefects are purebloods. Um, Remus and I can patrol together. You and James should patrol with the fifth-year Prefects since they don't know what they're doing yet." She handed the paper back to Lily.

"Thank you so much Thea," Lily thanked her profusely. She sighed, "I'm happy to be Head Girl, don't misunderstand me but at the same time I would have rather remained a Prefect."

"Don't do that Lily," Althea scolded her lightheartedly. "You're brilliant, and beautiful, and you have all the characteristics that a Head Girl should have. Honestly, I would have been more surprised if you weren't Head Girl. Now, can you please believe in yourself?"

Lily smiled. After that, the conversation between the two was more lighthearted. They first talked about Alice and Frank's engagement, and Althea was surprised at how quickly that had happened. The two had only started dating in fifth-year, however to anyone watching the two it was obvious they were in love and given how dire things were becoming it made sense. There might not be time to wait, because in an instant everything could change. They talked about Narcissa and Lucius's marriage, and Lily muttered how she felt bad for the Slytherin girl who had married into the most rotten family ever – the Malfoy family. They conversed on their school subjects, and Lily was perplexed about Althea's class selections of Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Arithmancy, and Ancient Runes.

It was the same class load that she had taken last year, but now they were NEWT level making them infinitesimally more difficult. When Lily made, her concerns known to Althea, the girl brushed them off assuring Lily that she would be fine. Althea yawned, stretching her arms above her head.

"I think we best get to bed Lils, our first day of classes is tomorrow and McGonagall will be furious with us if we're late to Transfiguration."

"True," Lily whispered.

* * *

Althea brushed through her hair, braiding it quickly and then shrugged her robes on. Loosely tying the Gryffindor tie around her neck, she headed downstairs unsurprised to see the Marauders lounging around while the younger students rushed out the door and headed for the Great Hall.

"Morning," Althea said to them through a yawn.

"Good morning," The others chorused back.

"Are you excited for class?" Remus asked, giving her a small smile.

"Of course," Althea assured him. "Well, except for Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. I have no idea why I elected to take those classes again, but I have."

"I'll help you," Remus volunteered readily.

Unbeknownst to Althea, James and Sirius shared knowing smiles and were making kissy faces behind Remus's back. The two were awkward, but at the same time they were sickeningly adorable. Lily traipsed into the room then, and James straightened up his hazel eyes lighting up when he saw her. Althea rolled her eyes.

"Are you ready to go, Thea?" Lily asked, not sparing a glance at James.

"Of course, Lily-dear," Althea readily agreed. She sent a soft look toward Remus, "I'll see you later for that Ancient Runes help."

Remus merely smiled in response. The two girls headed to Transfiguration, not bothering around to wait for the Marauders even though they shared many of the same classes. Lily and Althea both knew that they would be late, even with Remus encouraging them to hurry. Althea dropped her bag onto the desk in the far back while Lily deigned to take a seat up front. McGonagall walked into the room, her eyes showing a small amount of surprise when she saw the two.

"Morning Professor," Althea and Lily greeted brightly.

McGonagall greeted them back, and so the three waited in silence for the rest of the students to come to class. Unfortunately, the Gryffindors had Transfiguration with the Slytherins. Honestly it baffled Althea – everyone knew that Slytherins and Gryffindors hated each other, so why did the school constantly force them to have classes together? There was no hope of bettering relationships between the two rival Houses, especially since most of the Slytherins were purebloods and a fair amount of Gryffindors were either Muggle-born or half-bloods. Until the Slytherins stopped being prejudiced and arrogant, and the Gryffindors stopped being jokesters there would be no hope of peace or friendship amongst them. As she had suspected, the Marauders were the last to arrive and when they did they were laughing uproariously and talking loudly.

However, a stern look from McGonagall quieted them, and mutely they took their seats. To Althea's surprise and great pleasure, Remus sat next to her his golden-brown eyes crinkling as he smiled at her.

"This year we will be talking about Human Transfiguration and Conjuration. What are the different types of Human Transfiguration?" Althea raised her hand. "Yes, Miss Morgan?"

"Animagus and Metamorphmagus, Professor. Animagi are witch or wizard who can morph him or herself into an animal at will. It is a learned, rather than hereditary skill, unlike those of a Metamorphmagus. Many find that becoming an Animagi takes too much effort, and that there is no real use for it." Althea answered.

A ghost of a smile appeared on McGonagall's face. "Ten points to Gryffindor for the correct and knowledgeable answer. In your third-year Transfiguration class we spoke briefly about Animagi, but didn't dwell too much on the topic. However, now that this is a NEWT-level class we will be able to spend a much more substantial time on the topic of Animagus, and get you all registered as Animagi." Althea saw Peter, James and Sirius exchange panicked looks. "What is the difference between an Animagus and a werewolf? Mr. Lupin?"

Slowly Remus replied, "Lycanthropy is caused by a blood infection transmitted through the bite of a werewolf, whereas the Animagus skill is learned. The werewolves cannot keep their minds after a transformation unless they take the Wolfsbane Potion, nor can they control themselves when they transform, while Animagi can do both. However, as werewolves only harm humans, Animagi, while in their animal forms, are safe to be in the company of werewolves."

"Very good, ten more points to Gryffindor." McGonagall said. "For the next month, we will be going through the process of becoming an Animagus. I want all of you to work in pairs, so the person that you are now sitting with shall be your partner. However, I do not expect many of you to be successful in becoming an Animagus, therefore if after the month, you cannot do it you aren't required to be registered. But I endeavor you to at least try."

As soon as the class was over, Sirius and James were chatting worriedly about this assignment that McGonagall had given them. Althea smiled a little, finding it adorable how the two were so worried, but when she looked at Remus and saw the worried expression on his face her amusement faded. Right. Remus hasn't been found out yet because Sirius, James, and Peter are unregistered Animagi, if they suddenly become registered the chances of Remus being found out are high. I can't let that happen, she decided.

"I'll be back, I need to talk to McGonagall," Althea told them.

They looked at her in surprise but she paid them no mind as she headed back into the classroom. McGonagall looked up as Althea entered the classroom.

"Professor," she started but McGonagall held up a hand cutting her off.

"I am aware that Mr.'s Potter, Black, and Pettigrew are Animagi, Ms. Morgan," McGonagall told her. "However, I will not be forcing them to register as I know of Mr. Lupin's condition as well. We shall pretend that the four of them can't do it."

"Thank you," Althea whispered.

She spun on her heel and hurried out of the classroom. _It's official, McGonagall is the coolest professor ever,_ she thought. At least that's one problem solved, now onto Potions.


	4. Chapter Four

**In this chapter we'll finding out a little more about Althea's past. Next chapter will have some Althea and Remus relationship development.**

 ** _Seventh Year_**

A month passed. Althea was doing remarkably well in all of her studies – even Potions, which she loathed with a vengeance – and had successfully become an Animagus, much to the chagrin of the Marauders. It wasn't that they weren't happy for her – they were, because it was such difficult magic – but they were worried and upset, because they knew that now that she was an Animagus she would wish to come with them on the full moon to support Remus. Little did they know that while she had wished to join them, Althea had no interest in further tangling herself up in their affairs. She had to focus on her studies and maintaining a healthy social life – or lack thereof.

Lily bounced into the dormitory, a dreamy smile on her face. A Halloween bash was coming up and it was the Prefect's job to organize everything – Althea had helped Lily to decide on the date, the time, and the decorations and then get it cleared by Dumbledore. James, and several other Prefects were handling the entertainment and the refreshments. Really, the only thing that Lily and Althea had left to do was find dates, but judging from the dreamy smile on her face Lily had already found a date.

Lily excitedly told Althea about who had asked her, and to her surprise it had been Bryan Selwyn, a Hufflepuff. He was a pureblood, and nearly as stuck up as those in the Slytherin house although he really had nothing against Muggle-borns; at least, he didn't insult them anyways. Still, she didn't trust him but she plastered a smile on her face and told Lily that she was happy for her. She wasn't going to ruin Lily's excitement just because she didn't trust Bryan Selwyn. Althea sighed. Still, she just had a bad feeling about him.

Many of the students at Hogwarts seemed to think that those who sympathized with Voldemort, or those who were "Death Eaters in training" seemed to only come from Slytherin however, Althea knew that was not the case. Death Eaters could come from any House in Hogwarts; prejudice was limited to just one House. Late in the night as Althea was writing her Ancient Runes essay by the fireplace, the Marauders stumbled into the Common Room laughing so hard they were in tears. The only Marauder unamused was Remus who had a tense expression on his face. Althea closed her book and stood, walking over to him her eyes dark with concern.

"Is everything alright Remus?" Althea asked, tilting her head to the side curiously.

"Everything is fine, Thea." Remus murmured. He glanced over his shoulder at his friends, "Just had a run-in with some Slytherins, that's all."

Althea pursed her lips, taking a glance at the other Marauders. "I'm guessing it went well, then? Given how loud they are laughing."

"Evidently," Remus said through gritted teeth. He sighed, "I'm sorry, I do not mean to be so short but, James and Sirius aggravated me with the…stunt that they pulled." Lowering his voice, he whispered, "They transfigured some of the Slytherins to have werewolf-like characteristics."

Althea's eyes went wide, and she barely withheld a gasp. She knew how sensitive that topic was to Remus, and for James and Sirius to have the audacity to do _that_ , and disregard Remus's feelings astounded her. And not in a good way.

"Oh Remus, I'm so sorry," Althea whispered looking at him sympathetically. "Yet, they still find it funny." She frowned.

Remus shrugged, an uncomfortable expression appearing on his face. "That's just them, I suppose," he supplied unhelpfully. He shifted on his face, "Do you by any chance know a Clarissa Fawley?"

"Ravenclaw, sixth year, about my height but a little shorter? Black hair and green eyes?" Althea asked. Remus nodded. "Vaguely. Why? Do you want to ask her out?" An uncomfortable feeling twisted in her chest and she desperately hoped that Remus would deny it.

"No I do not want to ask her out," Remus said a little stiffly. "She is – _was_ – friends with one Regulus Black, and Sirius wants to know if his brother has become a Death Eater."

"So, he wants me to manipulate this girl and gain her trust," Althea muttered. "Well I won't do it. I'll become her friend if she seems nice but I won't use her just to gain information about his brother."

Before he could reply Sirius was there, slinging an arm around Remus's shoulders and pulling him towards James and Peter. Helplessly, Remus glanced over at Althea but she was busy looking at the floor, her cheeks flushed and embarrassment swirling in her stomach which only intensified when Sirius made a somewhat snarky comment about Remus "wooing" her.

Sighing she made her way to the dormitory.

* * *

The next morning Althea felt unbelievably exhausted. She headed down to the Great Hall alone; Lily was staying to help Mary McDonald and Alice choose their dates for the Halloween party – although everyone knew that the shy sixth-year Alice, would end up going with Frank Longbottom a seventh-year – and the Marauders were who-knows-where doing who-knows-what. Althea plopped herself down at the Gryffindor table, and slowly began to pile her plate full of food. The owls swooped in and hers dropped several letters in front of her; some nearly landed in her food and Althea hurriedly grabbed them.

The first two were generic ones from her parents asking her how her day was, her grades, and if she was having a good time at Hogwarts. The second one was from Anastasia Rosier, a Ravenclaw that had graduated two years ago. The two girls had become friends upon instantly meeting each other because they had the same interests, and Anastasia was a friendly and bubbly person – the complete opposite of her younger brother Evan who everyone knew (or suspected) was a Death Eater.

 _Dear Althea Morgan,_

 _I live in Hogsmeade now, and things are getting bad – especially in Knockturn Alley. Death Eaters stroll through the streets freely now, and I'm scared to even go out of my flat. The attacks on the Muggles are growing more frequent, and I've heard rumors that they are going to hit a few Muggle houses near London (isn't that where your parents live?), and cause some havoc at Hogwarts. Oh, Thea, I'm so scared!_

 _Sometimes I wonder if it would have been easier – and safer – for me to have joined Voldemort, but then I think again that he'll be stopped someday. Some I'm better off now, opposing him. For when he is stopped all of his followers will be put in Azkaban, won't they? Just yesterday, I got a letter from Clarissa Fawley, and she confessed that she is enduring the same struggles that I did. Her parents want her to support You-Know-Who and get married to a nice pureblood, but that is the absolute last thing she wants (even though many know that she fancies Regulus Black – sorry getting off topic), and so I was wondering if you could perhaps take her under your wing so to speak? Just show her that she's not as alone as she thinks that she is._

 _But if the others find out that she is…that she isn't who they think she is, I fear what will happen to her. If you do decide to reach out to her, please be secretive. I would hate for something bad to happen and have it be on my conscience (and yours)._

 _I miss you Althea, do write back soon._

 _Love your favorite Ravenclaw,_

 _Anastasia Rosier_

The next letter, was from Allegra Malfoy, a genealogist. Althea had contacted her a few weeks ago, to help her determine her ancestry primarily because she wanted to know if her entire family were Muggles or if she had some wizarding ancestry.

 _Dear Miss Althea Morgan,_

 _I looked into your case, simply because I could find absolutely nothing on your family. At least, nothing on you. I had to go to a Muggle building (I don't remember the name of it, and it was quite awful) where I discovered, that a little girl sharing the same name as you with a different surname had been adopted by a Morgan family a few months after your birth. Well, I discovered that that little girl was you and that you do have some wizarding ancestry in your family._

 _Miss Althea Abbott's Family Tree_

 _Althea Abbott – February 14th, 1960_

 _Mother: Serena Abbott nee Farris (1920-1965)_

 _Mother: Delilah Farris nee Potter_

 _Father: Henry Farris_

 _Father: Abraham Abbott (1918 – 1971)_

 _Mother: Drusilla Abbott nee Johnson_

 _Father: Victor Abbott_

 _Your father and mother were both half-bloods. Unfortunately, this was all I could find until I did a little more digging and your grandmother's father, was Henry Potter a member of the Wizengamot so you do have some prestigious lineage. It would do you well to consider allying with the Dark Lord, since you aren't a complete Muggle. That is neither here nor there I suppose._

 _I hope these results were satisfactory._

 _Good day,_

 _Allegra Malfoy_

Althea couldn't believe what she had just read. Honestly, she wasn't sure that Allegra Malfoy wasn't lying – she was after all a Malfoy – but at the same time she couldn't be sure that Allegra wasn't lying. If her parents really were half-bloods, then she had more wizarding blood then she thought she did and she wondered then, why her parents had never told her she was adopted. She understood that maybe they were waiting for the right time, but they had over a decade to tell her and they still hadn't. She wasn't a little kid anymore, surely, she could handle this.

She nibbled on her toast a little bit. _It doesn't matter, why they decided not to tell me. Either way they are still my parents,_ she concluded. To her, those other people were just names. Althea bit her lip, glancing at the stacks of letters once more. Maybe she should owl back Allegra, and inquire on the whereabouts of her grandparents? _No,_ she decided, _I don't know them, and I'm not quite sure that I want to. I've lived a perfectly happy life without them involved. I doubt they even know that I exist. Besides, there are bigger things to worry about than my personal life – like Voldemort and his Death Eaters._

Lily dropped into the seat beside Althea, looking utterly exhausted. Dark shadows were underneath his eyes, and her red hair looked a little greasy, her skin was pale and sallow, and her clothes were rumpled. In all honesty, she looked like Hell.

"Merlin's beard Lily, are you okay?" Althea asked, peering at her friend in concern.

"Yeah. 'M'fine," Lily grumbled, resting her head on her arms.

Seconds later, her breathing had evened out and she was asleep. To her right, there was movement and she tensed as an arm was thrown across her shoulders.

"Morning Morgan!" James crowed into her ear, leaning toward her.

Althea scowled, "What do you want Potter?"

"I want you to tell me, why certain Slytherins are staring at you." He narrowed his eyes at her, "What did you do Althea?"

She bristled at the thinly veiled accusation, "I didn't _do_ anything."

He hummed, but it didn't appear as if he believed her. Althea scowled down at her food. While she had denied James's accusation she had a sinking feeling that Allegra had told Lucius, and then Lucius had somehow passed her lineage to the other purebloods in Slytherin. If they knew that she was a half-blood hopefully they would leave her alone.

She snorted, knowing that it wasn't likely.

They were Slytherins after all.

* * *

Althea walked into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, unsurprised to see most of the Slytherins already there and chatting in low voices. The Gryffindors were the last to enter the classroom and bringing up the rear were James and Sirius with their heads bent closer together in conversation. Remus sat next to her, his arm brushing against hers and she felt her cheeks heat up. Professor Vesper swept into the room, dark robes billowing behind her.

"With the rise of You-Know-Who, I know that many of you feel unsafe. To help alleviate that and ease your spirits for the next several weeks we will be dueling, and practicing defensive spells." She turned a critical eye on the Slytherins, "For I am sure that many of you are entirely too competent in the more aggressive spells. Now, the person that you are sitting with shall be your partner. When we get done with dueling, you and your partner will do a project together but we shall discuss that at a later date. Now, get up and get your wands out we have a lot of work to do."


	5. Chapter Five

**Let me clarify a few things: this is a slight AU, yes but I will still be doing my best to stick closely to canon. Additionally, I feel like Dumbledore and McGonagall knew about Remus's furry little problem, just in case a problem would arise and I feel like by extension they knew about the Marauders being Animagi. On to chapter five then.**

* * *

 ** _Seventh Year_**

Althea's hands were shaking as she squared off against Remus. She knew that he was a competent dueler since the Marauders often did get into fights with Slytherins. There was also the tiny fact that she had a crush on him which contributed to her nervousness. She wasn't the best at dueling and she knew it, so she was afraid that she would make a fool of herself. Remus smiled easily at her, and some of her nerves dissipated.

 _"_ _Ready?"_ Remus mouthed.

Althea nodded.

"Expelliarmus!" Remus shouted.

Althea's arm whipped up, flicking her wand thus deflecting the spell. _Impedimenta,_ Althea thought with a flick of her wand and Remus stumbled back a few steps. However, he quickly recovered and sent a Bat-Bogey Hex toward her. The two battled fiercely, neither willing to give up an advantage. As they dueled, Althea noticed that Remus was always a little taken aback when she didn't verbalize her spells, yet he was doing the same thing that she was. It was a little odd, but Althea also found it endearing. Althea panted, sweat pouring down her back and aimed a Stunning Spell at Remus who had to dive out of the way.

"That is quite enough you two," Professor Vesper called, causing the two to halt their actions immediately. Her eyes were twinkling as she said, "That is what a good duel should look like, class. Now as for that project I mentioned earlier. I want you and your partner, to continue practice dueling and keep track of the spells you use, what times you practice, etcetera for two weeks. When the two weeks are up, I would like each of you to write an analysis on your partner's dueling style, and their mannerisms when dueling. Such as, what spells they use. Are they hesitant or confident, or possibly a mixture of both?" She glanced at the wall, "You are dismissed."

Althea walked over to her table, grabbing her bag and hurriedly jogged after Remus who was chatting with Lily. Upon seeing the other seventh-year, Lily beamed.

"How are you today, Thea?" Lily asked, smiling.

"I'm doing well, thank you." Althea returned. "Remus, we need to come up with a schedule."

"Right," he sighed. "Um…well, obviously, you know what days won't work for me. Nights are no good since I have patrol, being as I am a Prefect. After supper, could work, and we could do it three times a week?"

"Sounds good," Althea said, smiling brightly. "I'll see the two of you later then."

She walked away, her eyes glimmering with something akin to happiness and an easy smile on her lips. Althea headed to the library, deciding that she best get a head-start on that Potions essay, and she might as well finish her Arithmancy worksheet as well. The library was virtually empty, aside from a table full of Slytherins near the Restricted Section. To her great pleasure, Madam Pince was keeping a close eye on them. Althea plopped herself down at a table close to the door, and pulled out her Potions textbook.

 _Describe a potion, detail how one makes it. Analyze why the ingredients work, etc.; should be easy enough,_ she thought optimistically. It turns out the assignment was harder than she thought it was, and she wished that Lily was up here with her – the redheaded Head Girl was brilliant at Potions after all.

 _Veritaserum is a powerful_ _truth potion_ _. The name "Veritaserum" derives from the Latin word_ _Veritas, meaning truth. Three drops of this potion are all that is needed to force anyone to respond to any question with the truth._

Althea bit her lip, staring intently at the parchment and wondering what else she could add. She didn't know much about Veritaserum other than that it was colorless and odorless, and it was extremely hard to make. She supposed that she could add that, but what else? Skimming the passage in her Potions book she found that use of Veritaserum was strictly controlled by the Ministry of Magic; which she could add into her paper.

 _Veritaserum is clear, colorless, and odorless and is almost indistinguishable from water. The potion must mature for a full lunar phase, and is quite difficult to produce. It can be mixed with pretty much any drink, and three drops are a sufficient dose to make the drinker "spill out his innermost secrets". Thus, the potion forces the drinker to tell the complete truth to any question put to him/her, according to what the drinker perceives as true. For the same reasons Muggles don't use polygraph tests in court, Veritaserum is no more reliable than its Muggle counterpart. Since some wizards and witches can resist its effects while others cannot, Veritaserum is "unfair and unreliable to use at a trial" and would be difficult to use as definite proof of guilt or innocence._

 _Another problem is that the victim states what only they believe to be true, so the victim's sanity and perception of reality also factors in during interrogations. Therefore, while the drinker's answers are sincere, they are not necessarily true._

"What else?" She muttered to herself, tapping the tip of her feather quill on the paper, creating little dots on the parchment. She couldn't think of anything else, and thus concluded her essay by writing about the different ingredients that one uses to make Veritaserum.

Over the next few hours Althea worked diligently on her work, and managed to complete her Charms essay, finish her Arithmancy worksheet, and get started on her Transfiguration essay. Eventually though, she was kicked out of the library by Madam Pince. Gathering her things, she quietly headed to the Gryffindor Common Room and was unsurprised to see that the Marauders were still up although Remus was notably absent, and Lily was playing Wizard Chess with Alice in one corner of the room. Althea sat on the couch, pulling out her homework and dutifully continued to work on it.

Typically, she wasn't the most studious person. However, she had decided that it was crunch time. It was her seventh-year, and next year she would head off into the wizarding world and get a job. She needed to make sure that she kept her grades high and continued to be an overachiever. Honestly, she didn't know what she wanted to do but that didn't take away from the fact that she needed to keep her grades up. As the flames in the fireplace began to die down, Althea stifling a yawn, began to pack up her materials. Then she went to the dormitory, and as soon as she laid down on her bed she was asleep.

* * *

 _It was the weekend,_ rejoiced Althea, _which means no homework and I can spend time with Remus. Well…maybe._ Still, that means a larger opportunity. She braided her hair, and dressed in a nice black dress with navy tights and black booties. It was also a Hogsmeade weekend. At the beginning of the school year, Dumbledore had repeatedly reassured them that they would be safe in Hogsmeade, and that the Ministry of Magic would be there to protect them. At first, it was believable but with Voldemort growing bolder in his attacks Althea wasn't so sure if going to Hogsmeade was wise anymore. But then again, Dumbledore would be there, and for reasons unknown Voldemort was terrified of Dumbledore. Throwing a dark brown jacket on, and tucking her wand into one of the pockets, Althea headed down to the Common Room. Alice and Frank were standing by the fireplace, wrapped up in each other's arms and talking quietly. Peter was red and stumbling his way through a conversation with Marissa Meyers – a shy sixth-year who had honey blonde hair – and Lily was sitting on the couch talking to Mary, Marlene, and Vera.

Unbeknownst to the fair redhead, James was standing behind her listening in on her conversations. Althea snorted as she headed toward her friend. _That is certainly not the way you get to a girl's heart_ , she thought. Althea sat down on the couch, and rested her head, on Lily's shoulder.

"Glad to see that you finally got up," Lily said good-naturedly. Out of the corner of her eye she glanced at Althea, "You look cute. Do you have a date for Hogsmeade?"

"No," Althea answered cheeks flushing. "But I heard you do. You going out with Brian Selwyn again?"

"If you must know, yes I am." Lily said haughtily. "Honestly, just because he's a pureblood doesn't mean that he's a bad person. He's been nothing but sweet to me, since we met. Just because Malfoy, Nott, Rosier, and the rest of them are bad doesn't mean that Brian Selwyn is the same."

"Maybe not," Althea conceded, "but I still feel like you should be careful, Lily. He could just be putting on a show, you know, so that you don't suspect anything. Death Eaters don't just come from Slytherin, you know."

Lily frowned but didn't bother arguing with Althea. "You know Evans I quite agree with her," James said from behind them.

Lily jumped and turned to face him a scowl on her features, "I don't believe anyone asked you for your opinion Potter. Now, I should go Althea, I'll see you later."

Althea watched her friend go before getting to her feet, "I should be going to Hogsmeade, as well. I have some Christmas presents to buy."

"Already?" James asked in surprise.

"Well it is the end of October, and Christmas is right around the corner," Althea said with a smile. "Besides, with what's happening, this may be the last time that I am able to visit Hogsmeade."

James didn't answer. Smoothing down her skirt, Althea rose to her feet and headed toward the portrait hole.

"Wait, I'll come with you," Remus's familiar, slightly husky voice said. "I have to buy some things from Honeydukes to send back to my Mom."

Althea turned around and smiled at him, "Well then, come on Rem, we've got a lot to do."

The walk to Hogsmeade was a relatively quiet one, but Althea found that it wasn't really an awkward silence. It was more of a comfortable one. The air outside was bitingly cold, but it had not yet started to snow. Althea rubbed her hands together in an effort to retain warmth.

"Why didn't you wear your school robes?" Remus asked sounding a touch amused. "That would have kept you warm."

"I know," Althea defended, "but I never get to wear clothes like these, often when I'm at Hogwarts. For once, I wanted to dress like I normally do."

"Well you look nice, but for the sake of practicality school robes would have been better." Remus muttered. "But you still look nice," he added so as not to offend her.

Althea shrugged, brushing away his words. "Thank you for the kind words Remmy. It's okay that I call you that, right?"

He nodded, although his cheeks were suspiciously pink.

"So where to first?"

"Honeydukes."

She grabbed his hand and they were off.


	6. Chapter Six

**_Seventh Year_**

As they strolled through Hogsmeade together, Althea silently thought that this felt like a date. Logically, she knew that it wasn't but she couldn't shake the feeling that it felt a little more _intimate_ than just a friendly outing. She shook the thoughts off, convinced that she was just imagining it or making it up. The lights in Hogsmeade were dull, and so was the atmosphere. Everything had this muted quality to it, and this air of trepidation. Althea felt like at any moment something bad could happen.

 _It was silly,_ she thought, _to think that what with Hogwarts being so close and Dumbledore being here. But…Voldemort has been growing bored. I do not think that any of us are truly safe anymore, even at Hogwarts._

She had noticed with a growing sense of fear, the actions that the Slytherins and purebloods in other Houses had taken to displaying. Muggle-borns and half-bloods alike were being tormented daily, and nothing that the teachers could do would stop it. Eventually, she knew that the attacks would escalate and someone would die. She was surprised someone hadn't already, but a few had come close. Anger was growing amongst those who did not support Voldemort, but no one had stepped up to combat the growing threat that the other purebloods – particularly Slytherins – were posing.

The duo ducked into Honeydukes. The various scents of candy and from the flowers scattered throughout the store, caused Althea to promptly sneezed. She turned red, and profusely apologized.

"You're fine, Althea." Remus assured her, "Everyone sneezes."

She didn't answer and the flush on her cheeks deepened. Finally, she said, "Do you think that James would like Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans?"

"Yes, but you might want to buy him a Chocolate Frog or a Cauldron Cake." Remus advised her, examining the shelves filled with sweets.

With the full moon coming up, he had been starting to crave chocolate more and more. Althea hummed, picking up a box of candy and turning it over in her hands. _Yes,_ she decided, _I guess I will get James some Every Flavored Beans and a Cauldron Cake. Now what to get Sirius?_

She would be the first to admit that she didn't really know the Marauders extremely well, she had only started to talk to them in a friendly manner last year. Even then, she primarily only interacted with Remus. However, she was making an effort to change that. Maybe everyone else couldn't see it, but she could see Lily slowly softening toward James, and she would bet 20 Galleons on it that they would be a couple before seventh-year ended. Heading to the counter, she quickly paid the two Sickles and twenty-four Knuts for the candies and waited for Remus to finish shopping.

"You ready to go Remmy?" she asked Remus after he had bought his candy.

"Sure, where to next?"

Althea frowned, "I don't. How about The Three Broomsticks? I could really go for a butterbeer."

Grabbing their wrapped packages the two seventh-years headed out. The wind was bitingly cold, and little flecks of snow had started to fall from the dull gray sky. Althea shivered. Remus pushed open the door to The Three Broomsticks, holding it open as Althea stepped in. They seated themselves at a booth near the window and Althea looked down at the table, her fingers clenching in the fabric of her skirt, as Remus sat across from her. Now more than ever, she felt like this had the aura of a date. Before she could ask Remus if it was, the door opened and in stumbled the rest of the Marauders and behind them came a sullen looking group of Slytherins with red and gold hair.

"Remus," James said sidling over to the two seventh-years, "how's your day been? Hello, Althea." He waved his hand, "Never mind that. We are going to play the biggest prank on Brian Selwyn."

"Pray tell, why?" Remus asked. "I was under the impression that you were supposed to be leaving Lily alone and not meddling in her love life."

"He stood her up so I figured that that promise was void," James said. "You'll help, right?"

"I feel as if it would be unwise for him to do so," Althea spoke up and James looked at her angrily. "You need to let Lily deal with her own problems instead of trying to step in like some sort of hero. Those two have a close friendship, doing this could jeopardize that."

"I wasn't asking you for your opinion Althea," James snapped. He turned to Remus, "Moony, you'll help, right?"

"James there was no reason to speak to her like that." Remus told him briefly disregarding his question. "In answer to your question, I would love to help you Prongs, we're mates however, Althea makes a good point. I understand wanting to protect Lily, however we cannot do everything for her and to step in for her on this may not be the best idea. She did ask you to stay away from her relationships, and doing this is not exactly honoring her wishes."

James scowled at both of them. "Fine. Don't help a mate out then. I'll see you later Moony."

He got up in a huff, a scowl on his features and stormed off. Althea watched him go over to a table in the corner, gesturing wildly as he ranted to Sirius. Rolling her eyes, she turned to Remus, a forlorn look on her face.

"I didn't mean to upset him." She frowned.

"It wasn't just you Althea, believe me." Remus told her smiling at her reassuringly. "I'm sure it was because I didn't support him. We cannot…He cannot continue interfering in Lily's life when she's made it clear that the interference is not wanted."

"I realize that, and you realize that. But he does not," Althea said, grabbing her mug of butterbeer from the edge of the table. "He's blinded by what he feels for her that he cannot consider logic."

A stricken expression briefly crossed Remus's face, but it was gone before Althea had time to truly take notice of it. "Yes, in relationships logic must always prevail."

"Well, not always. There are times when logic must prevail, however it has its failings." Althea murmured quietly before taking a sip of her butterbeer. "Emotion and logic have to come hand-in-hand. You can't be completely obtuse, yet at the same time you can't be too logical. If you are, you might be missing what's right in front of you."

After her little speech, the two were quiet for some time. Althea turned to look out the window, avoiding gazing at Remus. Outside she could see that a light dusting of snow was starting to cover the ground but that didn't hold her focus. Her attention immediately switched to two people arguing quite loudly. A familiar redhead in Gryffindor colors, and a much paler boy in the colors of Hufflepuff. The redhead was gesturing wildly, an upset expression on her face. While the boy maintained a calm façade.

The Hufflepuff must have said something because Lily started to visibly shake with anger and Althea noticed the redhead's hand twitch toward her robes as if searching for a wand. Quick as a whip, the Hufflepuff whipped out his own wand pointing it at Lily in what Althea considered to be a rather threatening manner. Althea was sure that Lily could handle this on her own, but her protective instincts outweighed her logic. With a hurried, "I'll be right back Remmy", Althea walked out of The Three Broomsticks, walking over to Lily and wrapping an arm around the redhead's shoulder her eyes narrowing at Bryan Selwyn, as she whipped out her own wand.

With a flick of her wrist, his wand flew out of his hand and into Lily's outstretched one. "Is everything alright?" Althea asked thinly veiled anger in her voice. She narrowed her eyes at the Hufflepuff, "I'll be sure to Dumbledore about this incident."

Bryan snorted. "Like he'll believe you over me, Morgan. I am a Hufflepuff prefect, and an outstanding student. Now, please give me my wand back."

Althea glared at him, but did as he asked. She couldn't very well keep his wand without getting into trouble herself. Giving the two ladies a cocky smile, the Hufflepuff then turned to walk away. Althea watched him go, anger bubbling in her chest. Heaving a sigh, Althea turned to Lily a sympathetic expression on her face.

"Don't look at me like that," Lily frowned, crossing her arms. "I don't need pity Althea, I didn't like him that much anyways."

"Sure, you didn't sweetie," Althea answered, wrapping her arms around Lily in a hug. "I thought he stood you up?"

"He did. I decided to come here on my own, and then ran into him. He had given me this excuse that he was bogged down with homework." Glaring at the ground she muttered, "Clearly that was not the case."

"Aw, Lils," Althea sighed. "Well who needs boys, anyways?"

Lily pulled away from the taller girl rolling her eyes. "Sure, sure. And how are you and dear Remus?"

"We're friends, Lily as I've told you many times before." Althea reminded her friend sternly. Her eyes widened, "I have to go Lily! I left Remus in The Three Broomsticks."

"Actually, I'm right here." He said from behind the two girls and they whirled to face him, Althea's cheeks going pink. "I happened to glance out the window and saw the commotion. Are you two okay?"

"We're fine Remmy," Althea said beaming.

Lily chuckled, "Everything is fine Remus. Althea disarmed him, before he could do any real harm." She sighed, "Oh well, I didn't like him that much anyways."

Remus didn't argue with her just smiled and asked politely, "Would you like to join Althea and I? I believe we were going to head to Zonko's next, weren't we?"

"That or a bookstore," Althea confirmed with a nod of her head.

Lily looked between the two of them, "Oh I couldn't possibly intrude on your date, but thank you for the offer."

At the word "date" Althea's eyes bulged and she looked down, desperately fighting a blush. Remus looked around uncomfortably, shuffling his feet. Waving at them, Lily bid them adieu and walked away. The two were left in an awkward silence, and Althea didn't know what to say to Remus to suddenly make everything better.

"Zonko's then?" Remus asked.

"Sure," Althea squeaked.


	7. Chapter Seven

**_Seventh Year_**

After that day in Hogsmeade, things were awkward between Remus and Althea. Their conversations were awkward and stilted, neither sure exactly what to say or how to rectify the situation. Additionally, Althea couldn't stop thinking about Remus in more than friendly terms. Her relationship problems with Remus however, were the least of her worries. The Slytherins ("Death Eaters in training", they were called) had grown bolder in their persecution of Muggle-borns and half-bloods, and one day Althea's suspected parentage was revealed to the whole school. After that reveal and with the knowledge that Henry Potter had sympathetic views toward Muggle-borns, the digs and attacks toward her only worsened. Somehow, Althea thought that being a half-blood was worse than being a Muggle-born. Both of her parents had been half-bloods, and the Slytherins often sneered at her, questioning her on why her grand-parents had defiled themselves with Muggles.

She let the insults roll off her back, but she couldn't deny that they hurt. At least she had a newfound ally in James Potter, who she presumed was a cousin. Since finding out that they might be related, James became a whole new level of protective over her and even apologized for his actions in The Three Broomsticks. Slowly but surely, Althea felt that James was starting to mature. Althea yawned, stretching out on the couch in the Gryffindor Common Room. _Christmas Break is coming up in a week,_ she thought, _and I will be staying here. I can't very well go home, because my parents and my siblings are in America._

She didn't mind staying at Hogwarts; it was her second home after all, however she did miss her home and wished that it had at least been an option. The portrait of the Fat Lady swung open and Remus walked into the Common Room, precariously balancing a stack of books in his arms. He dropped them onto a chair and sat down on the ground, not acknowledging her. She had to admit that it hurt. They had been forging a friendship – maybe even something more – and to have it suddenly fade within an instant, hurt. Althea couldn't exactly blame, Remus for becoming closed off. She hadn't told him about her possible parentage, and to be quite honest she hadn't exactly hidden her feelings for him very well.

He was Remus Lupin, a self-depreciating werewolf. He didn't think that he was good enough for anyone because he was a werewolf, and Althea felt like that was the main reason he was avoiding her. He had finally allowed his insecurities to get the better of him. She sighed, looking down at her lap. She supposed she couldn't blame him, though. Becoming a werewolf every month was rough, especially when it wasn't your choice. Still, she wished that he'd see how amazing he was and that any girl would be lucky to have him in their life. Remus had no idea just how admired he was by girls at Hogwarts.

Sure, James and Sirius had the fan clubs and the girls who followed them around pining for their affection, but Remus was special in his own way. He may not have the fan clubs, but he did have a lot of girls harboring their own crushes on him. He wasn't like Sirius, he wasn't a player and that attracted many girls to him – not that he knew it – because they felt like they could have a relationship with him, instead of being tossed aside after a few weeks like Sirius tended to do with girls.

The door swung open again and Lily emerged looking distraught. She looked between the two of them, a frown forming on her face. "Are you two still not speaking to each other?" Neither answered and she gave a frustrated scream. "You two, come here now."

Althea got up, tucking her wand into the waistband of her skirt and walking over to the terrifying redhead. "I was doing homework Lily, what do you need?"

Lily groaned. "Can you two please, go back to being friends? It's driving me crazy!"

"I wasn't aware that we had stopped being friends," Althea answered softly, looking down at the ground and avoiding Lily's eyes. She was acutely aware that Remus was also staring at her.

"I'd say that the two of you aren't, because you have ceased interacting with each other." Lily snapped, unable to control her anger. She sighed, "Look, I understand that whatever happened in Hogsmeade made things awkward between the two of you, but don't let that ruin your friendship. I am friends with the both of you, and I don't want things to continue being awkward. I want it to go back to the way it was."

Althea sighed. Could they go back to pretending like Hogsmeade had never happened? Althea didn't know, but she figured that they could try. Besides, now that she was thinking about it they both had overreacted. Her, with avoiding Remus because of her feelings for him, and Remus because of Lily calling their outing a date.

"Very well, if that will make you feel better Lily we shall endeavor to move forward." Althea said formally. "Now, if that is all I have Arithmancy homework to finish."

"I could help you with that," Remus spoke up startling the seventh-year. She looked at him and he smiled a little crookedly, "I know that you aren't the best when it comes to Arithmancy or Ancient Runes."

Althea regarded him shrewdly for a few moments. "Fine," she sniffed although a smile was tugging at her lips.

The two worked on their homework quietly together, and slowly as the days passed fell back into tandem. As Saturday approached, Althea was hoping that she and Remus would get the chance to do their traditional studying session, but she also knew that it was Gryffindor's first Quidditch game against Slytherin and James would never forgive either of them if they missed it. So, on Saturday she found herself sitting in the stands, huddling between Sirius and Remus for warmth, as the players warmed up around the pitch. Althea was shivering violently even though she was decked out in a hat, gloves, a scarf, and a large coat. However, those articles of clothing did little to help her.

"Why is it so c-cold?" She chattered.

"It's winter Althea, it's supposed to be cold," Sirius told her amused.

She pouted and didn't answer. Remus glanced at his friend and shuffled a little closer, pressing his leg against her. She was surprised at how warm he was, but didn't question it. It probably had something to do with him being a werewolf and mentioning it would only make him closed off. Instead, she leaned into him curling against his side. Sirius pressed closer on her other side, as Althea rested her cheek on Remus's arm.

"We better beat the Slytherins today, otherwise I will be so mad at James for making us come out here." Althea grumbled under her breath, a frown pulling at her delicate features.

"You have professed an admiration for Quidditch though," Remus pointed out to her. "Regardless, you will have enjoyed the match win or lose."

"I would enjoy it more if it wasn't freezing." Althea said, sticking out her tongue to catch a snowflake.

Lily, who was sitting in front of them turned around and asked rather cheekily, "Are you cold Althea?"

"Shut up Evans," Althea grumbled. She eyed Lily. "Isn't that Potter's old sweatshirt?"

A dark flush appeared on Lily's face. "What of it? He saw I was cold, and it's quite warm."

Althea smiled mischievously, "I was under the impression that you hated him Lily. And now you're wearing his clothes. Is there something you aren't telling us?"

Sirius jumped at the opportunity shouting, "Hey Prongs! Are you and Evans dating!?"

The flush on Lily's face darkened even more, and Althea felt a little bad about poking fun at Lily, however she was genuinely curious to know what was happening between the two. Last, she knew, they loathed each other and Lily could hardly stand to be in Potter's presence.

"Lily, as your best friend you have to tell me what's happening," Althea told her, making her eyes big as she pleaded with the Head Girl to tell her.

Lily took a deep breath, fiddling with the edge of the sweatshirt. "We're not dating, but he's not as much of a prat as I thought he was. He's become remarkably decent since the Hogsmeade debacle, which I find surprising. He doesn't continually ask me out anymore, and he's acting like more of a friend to me. Him lending me this sweatshirt is no different than Remus or Sirius lending you a sweatshirt, Althea."  
"Do you want there to be something more between the two of you?" Althea pressed, leaning forward and looking at Lily closely.

Her friend laughed airily. "No."

Althea leaned back in her seat. "Don't believe you."

Lily flushed, turning around, and deciding to ignore Althea. Said girl just grinned and curled back up against Remus's side. _I was right, Lily totally fancies James,_ she thought as the match between Gryffindor and Slytherin began. As Althea watched the match she couldn't help but feel her anger start to rise – the Slytherins were playing dirty. James in his pursuit of the Snitch had nearly gotten knocked off his broom by the Slytherin Seeker or by one of the Slytherin Beaters. However, because Slytherin was playing dirty Gryffindor got in a lot of penalty shots and because James was also a great Quidditch captain, the strategies that he had come up with were working phenomenally. The score was 110 to 70, and if James caught the Snitch soon they would win. One of the Gryffindor Chasers sent the Quaffle spiraling into one of the hoops, and a cheer went up from the Gryffindor crowd. Althea yawned, tucking her head against Remus's arm quickly losing interest in the match. In a few minutes her breathing had evened out and she was fast asleep.

Over her head, Sirius looked at Remus a smile appearing on his face. "Remus, I think she's sleeping," he stage-whispered.

Remus glanced down at the girl sleeping against his side. "Yes, it would appear that way, wouldn't it? Perhaps, we should wake her."

"No!" Sirius shouted.

His shout ended up waking Althea, who jerked and looked around panicked. "What's going on?" she slurred, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

"Sirius was just being loud," Remus murmured. He glanced toward the pitch, "Seems that James has caught sight of the Snitch."

Within minutes the Quidditch match was over, and Gryffindor had come out on top. Althea stood up, stretching as everyone else in the stands cheered. Sleepily, she leaned against Lily who jumped a little, but upon seeing it was Althea significantly relaxed.

"So, Lily," Althea whispered into her ear as James flew by winking at them, "are you and Jamesie dating?"

"No," Lily huffed wiggling underneath Althea.

"I know when you're lying Lily," Althea gently reminded her best friend. "Just tell me the truth. Sirius and Remus can't hear you right now. It's just me. Your best friend."

Lily huffed. "We are not dating Althea. However, I wouldn't be entirely opposed if it were to someday happen."

Althea beamed, "That's all I wanted to hear Lily-bean. I'll see you later, I have a Transfiguration essay that's calling my name. Tell James I said congratulations."

With that Althea abruptly released her friend and navigated her way out of the stands, striding back to Hogwarts purposefully. She had a six page Transfiguration essay to write.


	8. Chapter Eight

**_Seventh Year_**

"Althea, I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself," Remus grumbled from his hospital bed. "Honestly, you don't need to do this."

"Hush," Althea scolded Remus with a smile. She fixed him with a sober look, "You had a rough night, and I just want to help. My goodness, Remmy, don't try to fool me. I can see that it hurts you to even lift your arms and you have a cut on your face, and dozens of injuries." In a smaller voice, she added, "I just want to help."

Remus softened at the "kicked puppy" expression on her face. "Fine," he sighed. "Could you hand me my DADA textbook then?"

Althea beamed, "Aye, aye!"

Ordinarily Althea, wasn't keen on helping others but Remus was different. He didn't want the help, which only made her want to help more and she knew exactly what had happened to him. It had been a rough full moon for the teenage werewolf, and if there was anything that she could do to ease his burden, she would do it. He was one of her best friends, and she knew that if she was in the same situation he would do the same thing for her. Althea grabbed his textbook, plopping it on his lap gently. He grinned at her thankfully and opened the book, intent on studying. The doors to the Hospital Wing opened and in traipsed Lily, James, Sirius, and Peter.

Althea wrinkled her nose. She didn't like Peter. Admittedly she hadn't had many conversations with the youngest and fattest Marauder, but there was something about him that set her own edge. Something that she just didn't trust. Either way, she plastered a smile on her face as she greeted them. She wasn't going to start an unnecessary conflict, just because she didn't find Peter trustworthy.

"Hey Remus, how are you feeling okay?" Lily asked, giving him a quick hug.

"I'm feeling perfectly fine Lily," Remus smiled.

Althea glanced at Sirius and James. They shook their head and a frown tugged at Althea's lips. If Lily didn't know, then why was she here?

"What those nasty Slytherins did to you was awful," Lily murmured. "I hope that the four of you told Dumbledore."

"Of course, we did Lily-kins," James assured the redhead, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "I'm supposed to patrol, but I really want to spend some time with my mate so could you patrol for me?"

Lily glared at him, but didn't protest. Althea watched the exchange between the two with great interest. Was there something happening between the two of them? The old Lily that Althea had known, would have argued with James until she was blue in the face before even agreeing to patrol for him. But this new, strange Lily had just agreed without a peep. It was a little disconcerting, if she was being honest with herself yet at the same time it was a welcome change. Their arguing had grown old and tiresome. Althea found the sudden change a little odd, though.

"Hi Moony," Sirius said smiling a little nervously.

Remus sighed, "Hello, Padfoot."

A relieved expression appeared on Sirius's face. "So, you forgive me?"

"Your actions didn't directly cause what had happened, Snape did. And you prevented a worse situation so thank you." Remus said. He smiled, "I'm being serious."

"No, I'm Sirius!" Sirius proclaimed with a laugh.

Althea looked between the two of them in confusion. "What happened, during the full moon?"

The joyous atmosphere immediately became more somber, and Sirius shuffled guiltily on his feet. Remus shifted, not meeting her eyes. "It's not Sirius's fault. In fifth-year or maybe it was sixth-year…Anyways, Snape found out about my secret courtesy of Sirius. And during the full moon Snape tried to expose my secret to a bunch of his Slytherin classmates. That was why it was such a full moon; Sirius had to go take care of that, and James had to work harder at keeping me contained."

Althea nodded, and hesitantly asked, "Everything is alright now though, correct?"

"As alright as it can be," Remus assured her.

She nodded, "Well seeing as you are fine and you have your friends to look after you, I think that I must go and do my homework. I need good grades if I plan on doing something to combat Voldemort."

Unaware of her friends concerned looks, she exited the Hospital Wing. She had already put herself in more than enough danger where Voldemort was concerned, and contrary to popular belief Althea was willing to put herself in even more danger if it meant Voldemort wouldn't win. A bigot and a xenophobic, could not win. She wouldn't allow it. There were many who would not stand against him, he was after all one of the most powerful wizards in the wizarding world, but Althea wouldn't let herself be intimidated. She wasn't going to let herself be afraid.

She was a Gryffindor for a reason – she had to be courageous. She sighed, as she headed to Gryffindor Tower. She understood that others were worried about it, but either way she was in danger because she had Muggle blood. She couldn't just sit around and do nothing, she had to take an active part in stopping Voldemort. Althea knew that her other friends felt the same way – that was why Sirius had left his parents (well aside from the fact that he was a Gryffindor and _not_ a Slytherin). If they could do something there was no reason that she wouldn't be able to do the same. Althea walked into the dormitory, sitting heavily on her bed.

She wasn't the best with dueling, but she wasn't completely incompetent either. Her greatest weapon in fighting Voldemort, was words. The best way to beat Voldemort was to show people his true colors, and remind people that he sugar-coats words, but he doesn't keep his promises. He only looks out for himself, and if you displeased him you were done for. She couldn't directly fight him but she could use her words to do so. Althea bit her lip fighting a smile. _Yes,_ she decided, _that's what I'll do. My first article went well and garnered opposition to Voldemort, other articles could do the same._

Sitting cross-legged on her bed and grabbing a piece of parchment and a quill, she began to write. Of course, she intended to fight against Voldemort as well. But for now, she was underage so she couldn't do that yet. This was the next best thing.

* * *

Althea shuffled sleepily to the Hospital Wing to visit Remus when she was grabbed. An arm locked around her waist pulling her back into the shadows and a wand pressed ominously against the soft skin on her throat. She shrieked, but no one was around to hear her. Wriggling, she tried to escape the grasp of the person holding her. Her elbow caught the person in the stomach and the grip loosened as the person lost their breath, but she still wasn't able to escape.

"Shut up you little bitch," the voice hissed and it was a voice that she recognized as belonging to Arabella Yaxley's elder brother Timothy.

"Yaxley, can we take care of this soon?" Snape's voice drawled. "We do have Potions homework."

"Homework is the least of my problems. We need to take care of this little Mudblood first." Yaxley snapped.

He abruptly released Althea who spun on her heels to face her attackers, whipping her wand out. Before she could move or do anything she was disarmed. Yaxley stalked toward her a predatory expression on his face, but she jutted out her chin defiantly intent on not showing him any fear. He twirled his wand in his hands, as he circled her. Her heart pounded rapidly in her chest, and fear was coursing through her body.

"Crucio!" Yaxley roared.

Althea screamed, dropping to the ground as an indescribably agony coursed through her. Her back arched off the ground and she saw stars in her vision. The feeling abruptly left her and she laid panting on the floor, trying to regain her breath back as tears blurred her vision. She had never had pain that intense before. It was a foreign feeling and an entirely unwelcome one. She had just gained her breath back when the pain came bacSk with a new ferocity. She screamed but no sound came out. Tears rolled down her cheeks, splashing onto the stone beneath her and she clawed at the ground as she writhed.

"Enough Yaxley," Snape murmured, gripping the other boy and pulling him away from the Althea.

She sank against the ground, panting and shaking. She heard muffled words being exchanged between the two of them, and then the sound of footsteps retreating. She rolled onto her side, scrabbling for her wand which was a few feet away from her on the floor. A knock on the door to the old classroom caused her to jump and immediately hiss in pain as her muscles screamed in protest. She had just managed to wiggle over to the wand and curl her fingers around it when the door opened. Rolling onto her back, she pushed herself into a sitting position, leaning against the stone wall for support as she pointed her wand at the people who had entered the room.

"Althea?" One of them asked.

It took her a few moments to recognize the voice was Lily's and when she did she burst into tears.

"Natalya, go get Professor Dumbledore," Lily ordered one of the terrified prefects standing behind her, as she walked over to Althea, kneeling beside her. She glanced over her shoulder when the girl didn't move, "Now!" Her voice softened as she looked at Althea, "What happened?"

"I-I," Althea stammered, her voice raspy. "I was attacked by Y-Yaxley and Snape."

Lily tensed, her green eyes hardening. She didn't want to believe that Snape had done something like this, Althea could see that, but she also knew that Lily trusted her and Lily knew that she wouldn't lie about something as big as this.

"What did they do to you?" Lily asked, brushing Althea's hair away from her face.

"Yaxley u-used the Cruciatus Curse on me," Althea whispered, looking at the ground. "I-I was on my way to visit Remus when they jumped me. Snape dragged him away. If he hadn't I'm sure Y-Yaxley would have k-killed me."

She curled toward Lily, tears in her eyes. Being cursed had hurt and it still hurt, but the psychological aftereffects were even worse. She had been attacked in Hogwarts, a place that she had thought was relatively safe since Dumbledore was here. But, she knew that to be false. It didn't matter if Dumbledore was here or not, there was an ever-present danger for Muggle-borns and half-bloods.

"He called me a Mudblood, Lily. But-But I'm not. I'm a half-blood, aren't I?" Althea whispered, her cheek pressed against Lily's shoulder.

"You still have Muggle blood in you, Althea. To them it's just as bad as being Muggle-born," Lily answered back in a soft voice. "You also don't support He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. If you did maybe things would be different."

Althea didn't answer. Would things be different for her if she chose to support Voldemort? Maybe, but from what she knew the Death Eaters didn't want a half-blood on their side, they only wanted purebloods. Even though, she knew for a fact that a few supporters of Voldemort were half-bloods, like Snape. But Snape was a Slytherin, and that changed everything for him. That was why he wasn't persecuted – maybe looked down upon a little, but never persecuted. Not like Muggle-borns and other half-bloods were.

Althea inhaled shakily, fighting back tears. She stilled wanted to contribute to the fight against Voldemort, but from now on she knew that she had to be more careful. She couldn't naively think that she was safe, because she knew now that she wasn't. Maybe she never would be.

"Oh dear," a voice sighed from the doorway. Althea peered over Lily's shoulder to see Dumbledore walking into the room, a grave expression on his face. Behind his half-moon spectacles a sad light had entered his eyes, which were no longer filled with joy and happiness. "We have much to talk about Miss Morgan, but first I believe you need to go to the Hospital Wing."


	9. Chapter Nine

**_Seventh Year_**

Althea lay in the Hospital Wing, bored out of her mind. Glancing over at the bed next to her, she had to admit it wasn't so bad. She at least got to spend some time with Remus, however she wished that it was under better circumstances. Althea yawned, shifting in the hospital bed uncomfortably. Dumbledore, had escorted her to the Hospital Wing, informing Madam Pomfrey of the situation and then he just…left. He promised that when he came back, he would talk with her and that was the last time she had seen him. She didn't mind, of course. She didn't want to relive what had happened and face the reality that she wasn't safe, even here in Hogwarts.

"Are you awake?" Althea asked into the darkness.

"Of course," Remus answered. "I find it hard to go to sleep in the days after the full moon."

Althea hummed. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"What happens during the full moon? No," Remus replied sounding uncomfortable. "Do you want to talk about what happened to you?"

"Sure." Althea said, but promised herself she would only give him the bare minimum. "I was walking toward the Hospital Wing, because I had a headache and I was ambushed by Slytherins. They used the Cruciatus Curse on me, and now I'm here."

She had told the truth, mostly. Only one little part of her statement had been a lie, and she prayed that Remus wouldn't pick up on that. If he found out that she was on her way to visit him when she was ambushed, he would only blame himself. Nothing that she could say would make him think that it wasn't his fault, so she felt it best to keep that information to herself.

"I'm sorry," Remus whispered his voice low.

"It's not your fault Remmy," Althea assured him, looking up at the ceiling. "Really, it's not. It's just those pesky Slytherins and their ideas on blood purity. You know who Voldemort reminds me of?" Remus hummed. "Hitler. They share some similarities, don't you think?"

"Hitler, the Muggle dictator who killed millions," Remus mused. "I can see some similarities between the two of them. Hitler had this idea of what he thought perfection was and anything who didn't fit into that should die, and Voldemort shares similar thoughts but instead of it being based on physical appearance, he is basing it on blood."

"Exactly." Althea said. "It's weird to think, that Muggle life and wizarding life aren't really that different, they mirror each other."

"Don't let a Slytherin hear you say that," Remus told her.

Althea rolled her eyes at his poor attempt at humor. "I'm tired, Remmy."

"Then go to sleep Thea," Remus murmured his voice unusually soft. "You'll be safe here."

Althea frowned, rolling onto her side. She wanted to believe that she would be safe, but after what she had experienced at the hands of the Slytherins, she just couldn't. Even with the reassurances of others, she couldn't believe that she was safe anywhere in Hogwarts. Althea closed her eyes. This time she wasn't alone, but it didn't alleviate her fear.

"Relax Thea," Remus soothed. "You're not alone. You'll be safe here."

She nodded, deepening her breaths. Within ten minutes she was out.

* * *

Over the next few days, Althea stayed in the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey had wanted to keep an eye on her, and Althea didn't protest. She felt safer in the Hospital Wing than she did anywhere else. Or at least she had, until Remus was discharged and told he could start attending class again. Dumbledore had yet to come back and with his continue absence Althea began to grow more nervous. She knew that the Slytherins and "other Death Eaters in training" would begin to grow bolder. The door to the Hospital Wing opened, and Althea gripped her wand tightly her entire body tensing.

She relaxed when she saw that it was Dumbledore. The Headmaster smiled, "I believe we have a lot to talk about Ms. Morgan, but first tell me what happened to you."

"I was walking here to visit Remus, when Timothy Yaxley and another Slytherin ambushed me and grabbed me. They didn't do much, but Y-Yaxley used the Curciatus Curse on me. If the other Slytherin hadn't made him stop, they probably would have done more." Althea stammered, her hands shaking as she recalled what had happened.

"And you didn't recognize the other Slytherin?" Dumbledore questioned a knowing gleam in his eyes.

Althea flushed ducking her head as she mumbled, "It was Snape. But he didn't do anything, he made Yaxley stop."

"Thank you, Ms. Morgan. In circumstances like this one, it is important that I get all the facts so that punishments may be doled out effectively. Now, onto another matter that we must discuss. I understand that you contacted Allegra Malfoy, because you wanted to find out more about your family. But you have no idea if her words are true," Dumbledore murmured. Althea nodded. "I hope you will be pleased to know that I can confirm that her words are true, but being a half-blood doesn't put you in any less danger."

"I realize that sir," Althea said. "What recently happened to me confirmed that."

Dumbledore sighed, "Yes, I would imagine so. Voldemort can reach even Hogwarts. No one is immune." He smiled, "Don't be afraid to say his name, Althea as so many others are. Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself."

Althea only nodded.

He smiled enigmatically, "I believe that you have homework to catch up on Ms. Abbott."

Saying those words, he quickly left the Hospital Wing, leaving Althea staring after him with something akin to bemusement. After he had left, she started just realizing that he had called her Abbott and not Morgan. She couldn't identify if she was happy or indifferent to the fact. She had never known her birth parents, and she would never know them because they were dead. Her adoptive parents, she knew and she was proud to call herself Althea Morgan. She didn't know who Althea Abbott was, and to be quite honest she wasn't sure that she wanted to know who that was. She was and always would be Althea Morgan; she had no ties to the Abbott's.

Sighing Althea grabbed for her Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook and began to read the passage about Inferi.

 _Species Information:_

 _Sentience: Non-sentient_

 _Eye color: Varies_

 _Skin color: Pale white_

 _Native Range: Great Britain; Haiti_

 _Height of average adult: Varies_

 _Distinction: Reanimated Corpse_

 _Affiliations: Dark Wizards; Haitian National Quidditch Team_

 _An Inferius is a grisly puppet. The Inferi are gaunt, skeletal beings that closely resemble zombies. Being human corpses, they have individual appearances based on the humans they were created from. For example, one Inferius may have dull teeth, while another may have sharp teeth. Some may have hair others may not have any at all. The most obvious sign that one is facing an Inferius rather than a living human are the white and cloudy eyes, indicating their owner is devoid of any form of life._

 _The spells used to reanimate a human body are much more complex than those used, for instance, to make inanimate objects fly. The Inferius may be cursed to respond lethally if disturbed, to kill indiscriminately, and to undertake perilous jobs for its master. Its limitations are, however, obvious; it has no will and no brain of its own, and will not be able to think its way out of unforeseen trouble. As a warrior or guardian with no regard for its own safety, however, it has many uses._

 _Due to their status, as being unfeeling dead, the Inferi are immune to bodily damages such as slashing, and have great physical strength, enough to kill a human or drag them away. Due to their superior strength and surprising speed, they are especially dangerous en masse._

 _As no spell, can bring back the dead, the Inferi are not alive, just corpse puppets. Despite this, it may be possible that they can speak. Preserved indefinitely by Dark magic, an Inferius can only be destroyed by fire, for no spell has been found to render dead flesh impervious to burning. Inferi are therefore enchanted to avoid flames by their master._

Althea shuddered, closing the book. Inferi sounded like nasty creatures to deal with. Briefly, she wondered if Voldemort would ever dare to use Inferi. _Probably,_ she thought _, he is a Dark Wizard after all._ Althea shifted in the bed, growing bored and uncomfortable. She had been in here for a few days now, and she really wished that Madam Pomfrey would just let her go. The door to the Hospital Wing opened once more and Lily walked in a pleased flush on her cheeks, and a bright smile on her face. Althea looked at her curiously.

"Hi," Lily said brightly, smiling.

"What happened?" Althea asked eagerly leaning forward. "Tell me, tell me!"

"Nothing."

Althea looked at her flatly, "Don't lie to me, Lily Evans. I know that something happened and I would like you to tell me what it is now."

Lily's grinned only widened. She bit her lip looking contemplative and then burst out, "James Potter kissed me!"

"And this is a good thing?" Althea asked cocking her head to the side in a confused manner.

"I don't know," Lily whined, sitting on the edge of the bed. "I suppose? He's become less of a prick than normal and is actually morphing into a somewhat decent human being, however, his behavior before was inexcusable and I'm not sure that I can forget that."

"Lily, you looked excited and happy when you told me that he kissed you," Althea reminded her friend. "He's made mistakes, we all have. You shouldn't hold his mistakes against him, especially if he actually is changing." Lily nodded. Althea continued, "Look, I think you're confused about your feelings for him because you've hated him for so long. So next Hogsmeade visit, you go with James on something akin to a date. See how you feel then."

"Okay," Lily murmured, "I can do that."

Althea just smiled at her friend, glad that she had been able to help her out. She slyly asked, "So was it a good kiss?"

"Althea!"


	10. Chapter Ten

**_Seventh Year_**

Remus paced in the Gryffindor Common Room. Althea was going to be released from the Hospital Wing today, and he was a little nervous. She had been attacked and he didn't know how quickly she would be able to get over that. _It's Althea_ , Remus reminded himself, _she's tough and she's strong. There is no need to worry about her. She'll be fine. She's got all of Gryffindor standing behind her to support her against those slimy gits that call themselves Slytherins._

Sirius snorted, "Careful Moony, you're going to wear a hole in the floor." Remus didn't cease his pacing. "Why are you so worried, Moony?"

"I don't know," Remus mumbled, running a hand through his sandy hair. "I just…I don't know!"  
Sirius smiled slyly, "I know why." Remus halted his pacing looking at one of his closest friends in confusion. "You're in love with her," Sirius said.

Remus's eyes widened. "No, no I am not in love with her, Sirius. We're just good friends, but I am not in love with her!"

"Then why else would you be so worried, and pacing so much?" Sirius questioned. He sighed, "Moony, I've never been in love myself, but I've seen how Prongs acts around Evans, and you are behaving in the exact same way. If Evans had gotten hurt how would Prongs be reacting?"

"Pacing," Remus mumbled, looking down at the ground in embarrassment.

"Yeah, and he'd be so worried but he wouldn't be able to tell us exactly why he was worried. Face it Moony, you're in love with her."

In a daze, Remus sat down on the couch beside Sirius. Could he really be in love with Althea? She was fantastic and intelligent, and beautiful, but he had never really thought of her in that light. Or had he? He remembered that day in Hogsmeade when Lily had told them she wouldn't want to interrupt their date, and how everything after that had been awkward between the two of them. Maybe it was then that he first started to have feelings for her. To be honest, Remus wasn't quite sure but he had to admit that Sirius did have a point and that the revelation wasn't quite as shocking as he would have expected it to be. It only took her being tortured for Remus to realize it.

"I can't be with her though Sirius," Remus murmured hoarsely staring at the flames in the fireplace. "I'm a werewolf."

"She knows that, and she's shown that she doesn't care. She still wants to be your friend Remmy," Sirius reminded him. "Honestly, I doubt she would care if the two of you were to start dating. Mate, she's head over heels for you."

"It doesn't matter, I can't be with her. I'm a werewolf," Remus answered caught in thoughts of self-pity.

Sirius sighed irritably, "Remus John Lupin, don't do that. She knows you're a werewolf, and she wouldn't run away from you if you told her that you're practically in love with her. I told you, she's head over heels for you, I guarantee it. Don't let being a werewolf stop you from going after something that would make you so incredibly happy. The two of you deserve each other – you're both fantastic and wonderful, and smart." A miniscule smile appeared on Remus's face. "Now man-up mate, and tell her how you feel about her." He sighed, "And don't tell anyone that I ever gave you this heartfelt speech, otherwise my reputation will be ruined and people will think I actually have feelings." Sirius shuddered.

Remus barked out a startled laugh, his eyes crinkling as he smiled. "Thank you Sirius."

"No problem mate," Sirius beamed.

Remus still felt unsure about telling Althea that he fancied her, because he was a werewolf and if the relationship ever went anywhere, prejudice would soon follow them. Remus was no stranger to it, but he didn't want Althea to suffer because of it. As Sirius had pointed out, Althea could make him happy. He shouldn't let his reservations and insecurities hold him back. _That was it then_ , Remus decided, _I'll tell Althea how I feel about her and leave it up to her. She wouldn't fancy me back anyways._

The portrait swung open and Lily and Althea walked into the Common Room. Lily was carrying Althea's textbooks and Remus's eyes raked over his friend's appearance. She looked fine; the bruises that had adorned her skin from before were gone and she looked healthy and happy. Althea turned her head, and their eyes met. His heart stuttered and he hesitantly grinned at her.

"Remmy!" Althea yelled, shuffling over to him. "I missed my Hospital Wing buddy," she grinned, plopping down on the couch next to him.

"I missed you too," Remus murmured quietly. Softly he asked, "Can we talk?"

She looked at him, concern brimming in her eyes. "Sure, what's wrong Remmy?"

"I just have something important to tell you," he whispered. "In private."

"Sure," Althea readily agreed. "Let's go."

She stood up, looking at him expectantly. With a growing sense of dread Remus stood up, his hands shaking. _I can do this_ , he thought, _I just have to tell her that I fancy her and leave the decision up to her_. Together, the two walked out of the Common Room and to an empty classroom, where they were guaranteed to have some privacy. Althea closed the door to the classroom and turned to Remus, a confused expression on her face.

"What did you want to tell me Remmy? What's wrong?" Althea asked, stepping close to him and peering at him with concern.

At her close proximity, Remus fought off a shudder and a red flush crawled up his neck and cheeks. "I wanted to tell you something very important, and I don't want it to make things awkward between us." Remus whispered. Althea nodded encouraging him to continue. "I fancy you," he blurted out and closed his eyes preparing himself for her rejection.

When she didn't say anything, he opened his eyes peering at her in resignation. Althea opened and closed her mouth like a fish, her eyes wide with shock as she absorbed what Remus had just told her. Finally, a smile bloomed on her face and she looked away from him and at the floor, a blush burning on her face.

"I fancy you too, Remmy." Althea murmured. She looked at him, "Don't look so surprised!"

"I just never thought that you would fancy me. That anyone would fancy me," Remus whispered.

"Oh Remmy, don't think that way just because you're a werewolf," she admonished. "Being a werewolf is a part of you, it doesn't solely define you. Besides, I think being a werewolf is kind of cool."

"Even though once a month I lose control over myself and turn into a bloodthirsty monster?" he questioned skeptically.

"No one's perfect," Althea answered airily. She sobered, "Remmy, I don't care that you're a werewolf. Okay?"

He nodded, still dumbstruck that she shared his feelings and that she didn't care that he was a werewolf. Any sensible person would have run away screaming, but Althea was different. She only saw the good in him.

She beamed, grabbing the front of his school robes, "Good, now shut up and kiss me."

There were no other words to describe the kiss than: fantastic. It was to put it quite simply fantastic. As far as first kisses go, it was tame, but there was no denying the affection held between the two of them. Althea smiled into the kiss wrapping her arms around Remus's neck and stretched up on her tip toes trying to get closer to him. Remus's hands settled on her hips, and a feel of happiness bloomed through him. Too soon, Althea pulled away but didn't move from the shelter of his embrace.

"So, what now?" she asked.

"I believe that now we are in a relationship," Remus mumbled, looking down at her fondly. "If that is okay with you."

"Of course, it is," she quickly assured him. "We don't have to tell Lily or Sirius do we?"

"I'm afraid we do," he answered laughing a little when she pouted.

"Remmy!" she shouted, a pout on her face.

Telling their friends wasn't as terrifying as Althea had thought it would, and Remus found it quite amusing how afraid she was of Lily's reaction. The first person they told had been Sirius because had been the only one of their friends in the Common Room, and he had immediately seen their interlocked hands. He had burst out laughing and then shouted that he was happy for them and that he knew it was going to happen someday. The newly formed couple had sat on the couch, both blushing heavily as Sirius relentlessly teased them but even that couldn't wipe the content smiles off their faces. The next person they had told had been Peter, but it didn't seem that he had really cared that much.

Then the two waited with bated breath to tell Lily and James. Althea had been fearing Lily's reaction the most, for reasons that Remus couldn't fathom. When he had asked why she had simply said, "It's a girl thing." He shook his head, smiling at her fondly. There was this sort of delirious happiness that was surrounding the two of them, this moment seemed far too surreal and neither could believe that this was actually happening. To any watching, it was just too sickeningly sweet the way the two acted around each other. The portrait hole opened and in walked the last two people that they had to tell talking and laughing. Sirius got up from where he was playing Exploding Snap with Peter, and directed James and Lily over to Althea and Remus.

"She's not going to be mad," Remus whispered in Althea's ear and she shivered. "If anything, she'll be trying to plan a wedding."

Althea scowled, "She'll be mad at me."

"No, she won't," Remus assured her squeezing her hand.

The two fell silent as James and Lily approached them inquisitive expressions on their faces. "Did something happen, Althea? What's wrong?" Lily asked, a frown pulling at her ethereal features.

"Nothing's wrong Lily," Althea assured her but that was all she said.

Lily turned to Remus for answers and he sighed. Best to just get this over with, he thought. "As of tonight, Althea and I are in a relationship. To put it simply, we are dating."

Lily beamed, a squeal emerging from her throat. "Really!?" She gasped, "Oh thank Merlin! You two are going to be the cutest bookworm couple ever." The two flushed.

"Congratulations Moony," James said. "I guess we have something to tell you too. Evans and I are going out on a date, so who knows we might become the next couple in Gryffindor?"

From across the room Sirius groaned in annoyance. Lily bounded forward, "Althea you must let me plan the wedding. I promise it will be wonderful, do you prefer summer or winter? Or what about fall?"

James snorted grabbing Lily, "Leave them alone Evans. Bombard them with wedding ideas tomorrow."

With that the two walked away and Remus turned to Althea a victorious smile on his face. "Don't say it," she warned him.

"Say what?" he asked playing dumb. She glared at him. "That I was right?"

She moved to stand up but he quickly wrapped his arms around her tugging her back down and inadvertently onto his lap. She froze, and then started to squirm a little when his breath tickled the back of her neck.

"You were right, happy?" She grumbled.

"Good enough," he murmured releasing her and she tumbled off of his lap, curling up at his side.

"You're the one who chose to date me."

"Shut up Remmy."

"God those two are sickeningly sweet. Make it stop Prongs!"

"Aw but they're so adorable Padfoot!"

"Not adorable. Gross."

"Grossly sweet, then."

"Too true, Prongs, too true."

Althea laughed. Remus turned his head, "Shut up you two!"

"Did you hear that Padfoot? He just told us to shut up."

"I know, I thought Moony was our friend," Sirius gasped dramatically.

Remus snorted, pressing a kiss to Althea's hair. She mumbled, curling closer to him, her hands fisting in the fabric of his shirt. _Maybe, things would finally start to look up for the seventh-years, but I wouldn't be too optimistic for that,_ he thought. _Still, things are starting to look up._

* * *

 **And the Althea-Remus ship has finally set sail. Aren't they just the cutest? I thought I would make this a sort of fluffy chapter as the next one might be a little more dark and angst-y. What did you think of this chapter? And of Althea and Remus as a couple?**


	11. Chapter Eleven

**_Seventh Year_**

Althea felt deliriously happy. The past few days had passed far too quickly for her tastes, and had felt exactly like a dream. She couldn't believe that she and Remus were in a couple. She knew Remus, and she knew that he was shy and he didn't think anyone would want him because he was a werewolf. So, him suddenly confessing that he had feelings for her felt a little bizarre, and she wondered what had led to it. She had a feeling that one of his friends had finally talked some sense into him, and had given Remmy the encouragement that he needed. Althea was just glad that he had confessed his feelings for her before it was too late. Voldemort and his followers were growing braver, and there was no certainty that any of them would survive.

This was a war, and there were always casualties in war. Althea sat next to Remus in the Great Hall, grabbing toast and jam. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. She hoped that the two of them would survive this, but looking at her group of friends she couldn't help the sinking feeling in her stomach that told her that there would be casualties. Remus glanced down at her, catching her and she timidly smiled at him.

"Morning Thea," he greeted her, eating some oatmeal.

"Hi Remmy," Althea murmured shyly, a blush appearing on her face. "Could you help me with my Arithmancy homework?"

"You don't even have to ask," Remus told her, with a small grin. "Arithmancy and Ancient Runes are…enjoyable subjects. But, DADA is much more fun."

Althea scowled, "I understand DADA, Remmy. I don't understand Arithmancy, and I only mildly understand Ancient Runes."

"Everyone understands DADA," Remus answered with a roll of his eyes. He hesitated, "Well, almost everyone."

"So, about that Arithmancy?" Althea asked.

Remus laughed a little, "I already told you that I'd help you with it, Althea."

She pouted, "I know, I just wanted to make sure." The owls swooped down from above delivering mail, and Althea grabbed her letters and the Daily Prophet. "Mum and Da, wrote to me." She glanced at Remus, "Your Mum, wrote to me too."

Remus's eyes widened and he reached out trying to snatch the letter from her hand. The look of utter panic on his face made Althea laugh a little and she leaned away from him, holding the letter close to her chest. Remus wrapped an arm around her waist, tugging her closer to him and she tried to twist away laughing.

"God, they're sickening," James groaned from across the table, and the two stilled. "No, continue on. Just know that I think you're disgustingly cute. Really, don't worry about giving the rest of us diabetes."

Althea giggled, shoving Remus away. "Are you jealous that I stole Remmy, James?"

James glared at her, "I am not jealous." He looked to Sirius, "Tell her that I'm not jealous Padfoot!"

While Althea laughed at James, Remus took advantage of her distraction and snatched the letter from his mom to her away from her. Althea turned to him, glaring as he ripped open the letter and read it. When she reached out to grab it he batted her away, and she leaned back a pout on her features. Once Remus had finished reading the letter, he handed it back to Althea.

"Really, Prongs you told my Mum that I was dating Althea, before I even got the chance to tell her?" Remus said, narrowing his eyes at one of his best friends.

"Yes, yes, I did, mate." When Remus's glare intensified, James sighed, "I knew that you wouldn't tell her right away, mate. So, I thought I would do it. Don't be mad Moony."

"I'm not mad, I am only frustrated because you didn't let me tell her." Remus told him. "I sent her a letter about it a few days ago."

"Oh," James mumbled awkwardly looking down at the table. "Sorry, mate."

Remus rolled his eyes. Althea leaned against him, looking down at the letter that his mom had sent her.

 _Dear Althea,_

 _James has told me that you are my Remmy's girlfriend, and I am so thrilled. You're the first girl that Remus has ever expressed an interest in. Oh, I'm sorry, I'm probably being incredibly embarrassing right now. My name is Hope, and I'm Remus's Mum, but I'm assuming that you are already aware of that. I don't know much about you, I'm afraid, because Remus is a very private person. Could you perhaps tell me about yourself?_

 _Signed,_

 _Hope Lupin_

 _The letter was a little odd and eccentric,_ Althea thought, _but as Remus's first girlfriend I guess it's understandable._ Althea shook off the odd letter, but did promise herself that she would write Hope back. She wanted to have a good relationship with Remus's parents. Althea quickly glanced through the other letters, one from her parents and one from Anastasia. The only thing that had been delivered to her that morning was the Daily Prophet, which she was hesitating to read because she knew that it would focus primarily on Voldemort, and it would sugarcoat things so as not to alarm the public. Shaking off her trepidation, Althea grabbed the Daily Prophet, flipping through it and looking at the headlines that said: **FENRIR GREYBACK AND WEREWOLVES JOIN VOLDEMORT, VOLDEMORT SEEKING ALLIES IN THE GIANTS, VOLDEMORT'S FORCES GROWING,** etc. Nearly all the headlines were about Voldemort. Honestly, Althea would have preferred to read something about Quidditch.

"What'd your Mum and Da, have to say?" Remus asked, wrapping an arm around Althea's waist as she leaned against him, dropping the Daily Prophet onto the table.

"I don't know, I haven't looked at it yet," Althea whispered. "I'm scared too. I'm afraid that they're going to tell me that they aren't safe in America, or that something bad has happened."

Remus pulled her as close as he could given that they were seated on the bench. "I'm sure they're fine, Thea." He whispered.

"But what if they aren't?" She replied. "What if something has happened?"

Remus sighed, "I don't know. But I know that we'll deal with it if the time comes."

Althea bit her lip, leaning into Remus's embrace. Slowly, she picked up the Daily Prophet again, glancing through the articles. All of them were written in a blasé way, like the author was trying to sugarcoat it. Even looking at the number figures, Althea could tell that many of them were wrong or numbers weren't given and it was just a vague "a lot" or "many". The Ministry of Magic, was trying to stop the public from panicking, but they didn't realize that by doing nothing and continuing to let the public be uninformed they were playing right into Voldemort's hands. People truly didn't realize how much danger they were in.

"Hello Evans," James beamed as Lily sat beside me.

"Potter," Lily returned evenly. She turned to Althea, "You okay, Thea, you look a little tired."

"I'm Lily, just exhausted," Althea murmured, her cheek resting against Remus's shoulder. "Just one more week and then Christmas break, huh?"

"Thank goodness," Lily murmured, "I really don't want to go back, because my sister is getting married, and she hates me. But at least I'll be away from Slytherins, and I'll actually have an opportunity to get ahead on my homework."

"I'll be staying here over break," Althea mumbled. "My family is…away. I have nowhere to go, so I'll be staying here."

"I've elected to stay here as well," Remus spoke up. "I figured that my parents could use one Christmas alone together, without me being a burden. Very few students will be remaining over the holiday, so I may actually have a chance to get ahead on homework as well."

James rolled his eyes, "The three of you are so boring. Padfoot and I are going to be at my house, and wreaking havoc on all the Muggles that live in the neighborhood."

Lily shook her head, "Honestly, I thought that the two of you were finally starting to grow up. In case you didn't notice, there is a war going on. Perhaps you should become a little more serious."

Sirius sighed, "We are aware that there is a war going on Evans, however we can't let it control us. We can't always live in fear."

"Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself," Althea whispered. They looked at her in confusion and she mustered up a smile, "Just something that Dumbledore told me."

Lily huffed, annoyed that the two were seemingly not taking the war seriously and that Althea had also seemingly agreed with them. However, that wasn't the case at all. They were all taking the war seriously, and Sirius and James were just dealing with it in their own way. Althea, herself, was trying to be brave by remembering the words that Dumbledore had said to her.

 _Fear of a name only increases fear for the thing itself. So, I'm not going to be afraid anymore. I'm going to be a Gryffindor. I'm going to try to be brave,_ Althea thought.


	12. Chapter Twelve

**_Seventh Year_**

 **VOLDEMORT STRIKES ONCE AGAIN – KILLS A PUREBLOOD FAMILY**

Written by Althea M., a seventh-year student at Hogwarts

 _It should come as no surprise that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, has struck out again and killed more people. What may come as a surprise, is that he killed a pureblood family when he is supposed to be a champion for the purebloods. If he can kill the same people he is claiming that he is trying to protect, what makes any of us safe?_

 _In the past week, Voldemort has killed multiple Muggle-borns and Muggles, and recently in the past few days struck out at a pureblood family. Eloise, Nathaniel, and Mathias Selwyn were enjoying a nice peaceful dinner at their home in a Muggle neighborhood when Death Eaters and Voldemort burst in. Mathias, 7, was killed right away. His parents held on a little longer, but were outnumbered and died soon after. The Selwyns had proclaimed their support for Voldemort, but in the end, that didn't matter, did it? Because they ended up dying anyways._

 _A pureblood – Aubra Shafiq has also gone missing and many think Voldemort is responsible for her disappearance. It is feared that she is dead._

 _There is no doubting that Voldemort is dangerous, but if you stand by and do nothing it will only get worse and you could become the next casualty. Something needs to be done and it has become clear that you can't just stand by passively and watch it happen; take an active role. He needs to be stopped._

Christmas break rolled around and Althea had never felt more excited for something in her life. It seemed like it was finally going to be a relaxing time. Althea finished wrapping Remus's present and sat back on her heels. An article she had written about Voldemort had recently been published by the Daily Prophet, and she knew that she was going to eventually get a lot of backlash for it, but for now she was going to remain carefree and enjoy the break. Many of the Death-Eeaters-in-training, weren't at school anyways. They had gone home to their parents. So, for now, she was safe.

"Althea, are you ready?" Lily asked, sticking her head out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her head.

"Yes, but it seems that you are not." Althea answered amused.

Lily rolled her green eyes, "I will be in a minute. Look, Thea, this is the first holiday where I don't hate Potter. He still is fairly annoying, but I don't hate him."

"Well I should hope not, the two of you are dating." Althea answered amused. "You know, I never really thought that you would give in to him and agree to go on a date." A smile pulled at her lips, "The two of you are kind of cute though."

"Shut up," Lily muttered, her cheeks flushing.

She ducked back into the bathroom to finish getting ready and Althea rolled her eyes, picking up Remus's present and heading downstairs. James was sitting on the couch, his unruly hair messier than normal and his leg was jiggling up and down nervously. As Althea came down the stairs he turned to look at her and a frown crossed his face when he realized that she was not Lily. Remus, on the other hand, beamed upon seeing his girlfriend dressed festively in a red dress with white fur trim, and a Santa hat perched precariously on her head.

"I come bearing gifts," Althea said, walking over and sitting on the arm of the chair Remus was sitting in. He wrapped his arm around her, his hand curving protectively over her hip.

No one would have ever suspected that they would be a touchy-feely couple, but they were. Whenever the two were together they couldn't help but touch. Remus's present rested in Althea's lap, and Sirius raised his brows.

"I only see one gift." Sirius said, eyeing the one in her lap.

"Look under the tree," She said jerking her head toward the Christmas tree in the common room. "There's a gift for each of you underneath there." She glanced at Peter, "I got you a gift too, Peter."

The chubby boy smiled shyly, his cheeks blushing red. The other Marauders headed to the tree to find the presents that Althea had mentioned, but Remus remained where he was sitting, looking at his girlfriend curiously.

"Where's my present?" He asked, smiling a little mischievously.

"Right here," she said, handing him the neatly wrapped gift. She glanced at him, "Merry Christmas, Remmy."

"Merry Christmas, Althea." He answered just as quietly. "Where's Lily?"

"Still getting ready. She wants to impress James."

Remus shook his head, "She could wear a trash bag and James would think she was the most beautiful girl in the world. Honestly, has she forgotten how long he has been enamored with her, for?"

"Probably," Althea said with a snort. "It's not like he asked her out nearly every day."

"Oh, certainly not," Remus agreed thinly veiled amusement mixed with sarcasm in his voice.

"Exploding Snap cards," Sirius said, dryly. "You shouldn't have."

Althea just smiled, wrapping an arm around Remus's shoulder as she watched her close friends open their presents. She felt some sort of satisfaction when Sirius saw that there was also a flask of firewhiskey and he had also received candy, while James had gotten a new broom, some Chocolate Frogs, and a Muggle board game, and Peter had received some Muggle comic books and a lot of candy.

"Thanks Althea," Sirius said, waving his firewhiskey bottle and the silver flask in the air. "Best Christmas present, ever."

"You're welcome," Althea answered with a dip of her head.

Althea found that she quite enjoyed the Christmas festivities, much more than she had thought she would. It was nice to spend a quiet, relaxing evening with her friends and not have to worry about homework or going to class. It was a welcome change, and one she found would be very missed when life more or less returned to normal after the holiday. Althea yawned, curling her body into Remus's, her cheek resting on his shoulder as she watched an inebriated Sirius flirt with a few naïve looking fifth years. Remus's chest vibrated as he chuckled, and she looked up at him curiously.

"Lily and James are stuck under the mistletoe," he whispered to her, and she turned her head to see that indeed the two were stuck under a pair of mistletoe. The mistletoe in the castle was charmed, so you couldn't go anywhere until you kissed the person under the mistletoe with you.

Lily huffed, crossing her arms, her cheeks flaming red as she looked anywhere but at James who had an infuriating big grin on his lips. He grabbed Lily's face and pulled her toward him, pressing a kiss to her lips. Many of those watching expected Lily to recoil in revulsion, but she did the exact opposite. She threw her arms around James's neck, eagerly kissing him back. Althea snorted, unable to hide her laughter and she buried her face in Remus's shoulder looking away from the two snogging.

"I wish that we could do stuff like this more often Remmy," Althea whispered.

"Me too." Remus answered his voice quiet. "For now, we have found peace, but it won't last much longer, I fear. The Slytherins will do something to mess this up or You-Know-Who will. And for whatever reason, I have this sinking feeling in my gut that says our group will be the hardest hit."

"I feel that way too," Althea murmured. "Lily is a Muggle-born, and I might as well be with the amount of Muggle blood flowing through my veins. You're a half-blood, and so is Peter. The only purebloods are James and Sirius, and they've both been labelled blood traitors. Those reasons alone give the Death Eaters enough cause to strike out against us."

"We shouldn't dwell on these sad topics," Remus swiftly changed the subject. "We should talk about what we want to do once we've graduated."

"I'm not quite sure, to be quite honest with you. Maybe write for the Daily Prophet? Or become a spell-inventor, or maybe an Auror." She glanced up at Remus to see an amused smile playing on his lips. "In other words, I have absolutely no clue. All of these jobs sound cool and amazing, but none of them have truly stuck out to me."

"I understand that. I have a multitude of jobs that interest me but many of them I cannot do because of my…affliction." Remus said.

"Remus," Althea sighed.

"It is true," he maintained fixing her with a stern look. "You may see the good in me, but the rest of the wizarding community would not."

"I know that. However, that doesn't mean I like it when you speak like that." Althea returned swiftly. "Now, shut up and kiss me."

Remus just shook his head fondly, a smile on his lips before doing as she had asked.


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**_Seventh Year_**

Althea yawned, rolling over in bed. The festivities from last night had absolutely exhausted her because they had stayed up until about six in the morning before finally deciding that it was best they get some sleep. She glanced at her watch laying on the bedside table next to her and sighed. It was only one in the afternoon.

 _Much too early,_ she thought.

Althea yawned again, sitting up and patting down her untamed hair that likely resembled a bird's nest. She couldn't believe that her seventh year – her last year – at Hogwarts was almost over. It was a bittersweet feeling to know that soon, she would be a full-fledged witch, able to make a difference in the world. But, with the rise of Voldemort and his threatening presence constantly looming over the wizarding world it was hard to actually enjoy the moment. Althea, rubbed at her eyes and slowly rose to her feet.

Changing clothes was an exhausting affair, and she decided that she didn't really want to bother making an effort. She piled her hair into a messy bun and tugged a large oversized sweatshirt on. The sweatshirt was so big that it went down almost to her knees, covering the shorts that she was wearing. She shrugged it off, stumbling out of the dormitory and into the Common Room. As she suspected James and Sirius were laying on the couch, moaning and groaning about how awful they felt. Peter was nowhere in sight, and Remus was sitting in front of the fire a book on his lap. She crossed over to him, setting gracefully beside him.

He smiled looking over at her, and his eyes widened at the amount of bare skin that he saw. A mischievous smile curled Althea's lips but she knew better than to tease him. Althea brought her knees closer to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs, and peering curiously at the book in Remus's lap.

"What are you reading?" she asked quietly, her head lightly resting on his shoulder.

"A story," he answered. She frowned at him. He laughed, "A book explaining Ancient Runes in a deeper depth."

"Sounds boring," Althea said bluntly. Remus laughed a little louder and her cheeks flushed. "Ordinarily, I'm not one to judge when someone is reading about an academic subject but Ancient Runes is _bloody awful_ , Remmy. I can't understand why you like it so much."

"It's intriguing," he weakly defended it.

"No, Potions is intriguing. Ancient Runes is stupid," she argued.

"To each their own I suppose," he answered lightly. "Thank you for the book by the way."

Behind them they could hear Sirius and James stirring more, and still grumbling about how their heads hurt. Althea wanted to reply that their heads wouldn't hurt if they hadn't had so much firewhiskey and if they hadn't stayed up so late, but decided it wasn't her place. Besides, Lily would be coming down soon she was sure and would probably tell the boys the same thing.

A pleased grin appeared on her face, "Not a problem, Remus." She rolled her eyes, "I know how much you adore Ancient Runes so this seemed like the most logical present. Did you enjoy the rest of your present?"

"You mean the Chocolate Frogs, a nice poem written by you, and two Muggle books called _The Scarlet Letter_ and _The Great Gatsby_. Or what about the book about hippogriffs you got me?" Remus shook his head thoroughly amused as Althea's cheeks flushed pink. "Honestly, Thea you didn't have to spend that much money on me."

"But I wanted to!" She protested. "And I couldn't decide on just one gift, so I got a bunch. You like them, right?"

"Of course, I do. I liked all the gifts that you got me Thea," Remus answered his voice soft and his eyes boring into hers with an intensity that stole her breath. He then smiled charmingly at her, "You haven't opened my present yet, have you?"

The flush on her cheeks darkened. "No. Weren't you the one insisting that you want to be there when I open it too?"

"Yes," he confirmed with a nod. "Why don't you go get it? I'll be right here."

Althea bounded to her feet, and yelled quickly that she'd be right back. Althea quickly bounded up the stairs not seeing the amused look in Remus's eyes as they followed her. She burst into the girl's dormitory going to her bed, where the present lay. She grabbed it and darted back downstairs, nearly slipping down the steps as she went. In minutes, she was back at Remus's side, the present lying carefully in her lap. Remus laughed a little at the obvious excitement in her eyes and the way she was practically vibrating with energy. He rested his hands on her shoulders, stilling her.

"Okay, you can open it now," he told her.

She rolled her eyes, smiling and tore into the present. The wrapping paper ended up in shreds as she tore through it. She stared down at the box in her hands, turning curious eyes to Remus before opening the box. In the box were a few books, a snow globe and a necklace case. She grabbed the case first staring at it and opened it, her jaw dropping open slightly when she saw the pendant. A wolf. She knew that Remus hated what he was, so she couldn't quite comprehend why he would give her a wolf pendant unless he was somehow acknowledging that it was a part of it.

Remus gently took the necklace out of the case, and indicated that Althea should turn around. "I'm usually not one to be sappy, but I saw this necklace and I couldn't erase it from my mind," he told her, fingers fumbling with the clasp. He put it around her neck, his cheeks heating when she turned back around. "It has a wolf, and I hope it will remind you that I'm always there. That I'll always come back to you."

Althea leaned forward, wrapping her arms tightly around Remus. "I love it."

She nestled her face in the crook of his face, and with barely any effort he pulled her until she was splayed above him, her legs draped over his hips. He wrapped an arm around her waist holding her more securely against him. It was moments like this, Althea treasured the most because they reminded her what it meant to feel loved and to feel content with what she had. It reminded her that Voldemort was evil and terrible, but he couldn't take away everything good in the world. He could taint it but there would always be people fighting back to protect precious moments like these. Her arms tightened around his neck and she suddenly found herself fighting back tears.

"Thea, what's wrong?" Remus asked gently when she sniffled.

"Nothing," she mumbled. "I'm just being stupid."

"I highly doubt that," Remus answered a touch of amusement in his voice. "You're one of the smartest witches that I know. So whatever has upset you isn't stupid."

"It's not important," she tried.

"Everything you say is important."

"Remus."

"Yes?"

"Stop being so irresistible."

He chuckled, and the sound made warmth curl in her belly. "No can do," he whispered in her ear. She nestled closer to him, nose brushing against the skin of his neck. "Now, what was upsetting you?"

"I don't know," Althea mumbled into his neck. "I suppose that I'm feeling very overwhelmed about everything. I can't stop thinking about the future and leaving Hogwarts, and You-Know-Who and life in general. It's all a bit overwhelming and I'm struggling to process it all I guess."

"Thea, Thea, Thea," he sighed. "Don't worry about the things that you cannot control. Your worries are not unfounded but we should treasure the time that we have, shouldn't we? Make the best of our lives, because we only get one."

"Says Mr. Broody," she quipped.

Remus laughed. "Yes, I suppose I am broody. But…I'm working on it."

"Fair point," she whispered. "Remus."

"Hm?"

"You're my favorite Marauder."

"I certainly hope so. You're my favorite Althea."

"I'm the only Althea that you know," she pointed out wryly.

"And? That doesn't mean that you can't be my favorite, does it?" Amused, she shook her head. "That's what I thought," he said with a pleased smile.

Althea pulled away from him, her eyes searching his features. "What do you want to do, when we're done with Hogwarts?"

"I don't know." Remus answered slowly. "Obviously, I've given it some thought but it might be fairly difficult for me to find a job."

Althea smiled pressing her lips against his cheek. "You'll figure something out, Remmy. And whatever you do, you're going to be fantastic at it."

He smiled, touching his forehead to hers. "I hope so."

"You will. Just wait, someday the whole world is going to know the name Remus Lupin."


	14. Chapter Fourteen

**_Seventh Year_**

The rest of the break passed all too quickly for Althea's tastes. By the New Year's, everyone was talking about a new Hogwarts couple – it was a couple that most Gryffindors had been waiting for. Yes, Lily and James finally got together much to the pleasure of everyone in Gryffindor and the chagrin of Severus Snape. New Year's had been rung in with quite a bang, because what else could anyone expect when you're friends with the Marauders? The start of the new year had been fabulous; Althea's relationship was flourishing, she was doing well in school and for now Voldemort's attacks had stopped.

It was near the end of January when everything seemed to change. Althea jumped, as the Daily Prophet was slammed down in front of her. At her side Remus tensed, the grip on her thigh tightening. Althea glanced at him nervously before turning her attention to the person who had so aggressively slammed the Daily Prophet down. _Celia Forrest._ A half-blood Ravenclaw. She didn't know the girl personally, but from what she had heard the fourth-year was generally timid and sweet. To see the rage in the girl's eyes was shocking.

"My parents are dead and it's all your fault," the petite Ravenclaw told Althea. "Read it!"

"Whatever actions You-Know-Who takes are his fault, not mine. I cannot help it if He didn't like what I wrote," Althea said stiffly, shoving the paper away from her. But she couldn't disguise the shaking in her hands, something that Remus took immediate notice of.

"They could have lived a little longer if it wasn't for you!"

"Excuse me," Lily spoke up from where she was sitting on the other side of Althea, James present at her side. "Do you even hear yourself? You said that they could have 'lived a little longer', so either way they were going to die. We don't know when, but surely it would have been soon. You-Know-Who doesn't show any mercy; it's amazing actually that they survived this long in the wizarding world with him running amuck."

Celia's face turned scarlet, but there was nothing she could say to combat Lily's words. As harsh as they may have seemed to the fourth-year, they were nothing but the truth. Althea glanced at Lily, seeing the regret on the redhead's face as the Ravenclaw burst into tears, snatched the Prophet and fled out of the Great Hall. She knew that Lily hadn't meant to hurt the girl, that wasn't in Lily's nature, but she had also been trying to protect Althea. Said girl ducked her head, staring unseeingly at the food on her plate. Her appetite had suddenly fled her, and her previous vivacious attitude became muted as she processed the words of the Ravenclaw. She knew that the girl could be unfairly blaming her, but Althea couldn't help but wonder if maybe the girl was partially right. What if Althea was just antagonizing Voldemort and making things worse for those who lived within his influence?

Remus squeezed her thigh, and Althea looked up at him mustering a shaky half-smile that did not reach her eyes. He frowned, leaning closer to her, pressing a kiss to her cheek. She flushed, but the expression on her face didn't change. The frown on his face deepened and he wrapped an arm around her waist, drawing her closer to him. She turned slight, curling into him and pressing the side of her face into his shoulder closing her eyes and trying to forget about the incident that had just happened.

She felt him sigh and rest his chin on top of her head. "Thea," he whispered softly his voice sounding pained.

"I'm fine," she answered back her voice hoarse. "I just…I just need a minute."

He sighed again, and the arm around her waist tightened. Logically, she knew that it was silly for her to place the blame solely on herself for Voldemort's actions. But the Ravenclaw's words had planted that seed of doubt in her head. Maybe, writing those articles was a mistake. She knew that it had placed a target on her back, because it had upset His followers and Himself. But she had never imagined, never even considered the impact that it might have on others. Did that make her selfish? Maybe. But it didn't make her a bad person; an inconsiderate person, but not bad. Not wholly evil.

Althea sighed. It would do her no good to continue to dwell on the words of the Ravenclaw; a Ravenclaw who had just lost her parents. She was sure that eventually the fourth-year would come to regret her words; surely, she was just speaking out of grief. But no matter how she tried to justify she couldn't shake the words or the rage from her mind, and the doubt and the guilt continued to try to consume her. She sniffled, tears springing to her eyes.

At her side, she felt Remus tense and try to draw her closer, his thumb rubbing soothing circles on her hip.

"I'm fine," Althea repeated more firmly.

"If you're sure," Remus murmured uncertainly. He brushed a kiss across the crown of her head. "Come on, we should get going to class."

Althea nodded, getting to her. Remus stood, grabbing her hand and pulling her closer so he could wrap an arm around her shoulders. Then, the two headed off to Potions.

"Thea, you're brooding," Remus whispered. "Talk to me. Tell me what's wrong."

"Just what she said. It's bothering me, that's all," Althea said rather unconvincingly.

Remus sighed. "Don't let her words bother you. She's just grieving."

"I know. But, I can't help but wonder if maybe some part of what she said is true. Maybe their deaths weren't caused by me, but what if my actions hastened it along? Lily said that they would have died eventually, but what if because of me it happened sooner than it would have?" Althea whispered. "I'm so focused on getting the truth out there and doing honest reporting and not hiding things from people. But I never even gave any consideration to the people directly affected by You-Know-Who's actions. I never thought about the people living within his influence."

"Thea, you can't blame yourself for His actions. You don't control it," Remus reminded her his voice stern. "What happened was not your fault and you shouldn't blame yourself for it."

She sighed, "But I do. I can't help but wonder if it truly is my fault."

"Don't put that pressure on yourself," Remus told her, as the two walked into the Potions classroom. Students began to slowly filter into the classroom, "We'll talk more later."

Althea scowled but acquiesced to the demand. Slughorn strolled into the room, a beatific smile on his face as he greeted the seventh-years. Throughout Potions, Althea daydreamed. She found it hard to pay attention, and to anyone paying her the slightest bit of attention it was obvious her mind was elsewhere. Soon, the class was over and like a zombie Althea shuffled out the door her eyes locked on the ground underneath her feet. A warm hand grasped her own and she jumped, her eyes flicking to her left to see Remus. A small smile appeared on her face, and she squeezed his hand.

"Come with me," Remus told her, his grasp on her hand strengthening as he pulled her after him.

"Remus, we have classes to go to still," Althea protested, stumbling after him.

"I'm quite aware, but we can just say that we were doing Prefect duties. I'm sure Dumbledore would back us up, don't you think?" Remus answered in return. "Besides, if we don't talk about this right now, we'll never talk about it."

"That's beside the point," Althea insisted. "I don't want to talk about this."

"Well I do," He answered, opening an abandoned classroom door and leading her inside. He shut the door, leaning against it and staring at her firmly. "I don't like to talk about being a werewolf but I do it anyways. So, we need to talk about this. You're lettering the words of a fourth-year get to you. Why?"

"I can see valid points in what she said, or rather I can make valid points to confirm her words," Althea murmured, crossing her arms over her chest defensively. "She's a fourth-year, but she's not stupid. It'd be illogical of me to completely disregard her words."

"Yes, and it's also illogical of you to take her words as fact. Which is what you seem to be doing," Remus returned hotly his eyes narrowing. "I agree that you can't completely ignore what she's saying but you have to take it with a grain of salt; don't treat it as fact. She's grieving, so her thoughts are clouded and she's looking for someone to place the blame on."

"I know," Althea answered weakly. Remus looked at her disbelievingly. "I know! I do, really it's just…I don't know how to explain it. I know that she's grieving and she's trying to place the blame on me. I know that it might not actually be my fault. But, what if it is? What then?"

"You can't focus on the what ifs, Thee," Remus told her gently.

"You do!"

He flinched. "I do. But, my circumstances are entirely different."

"I'm sorry, Remmy," Althea whispered. She shuffled her feet, looking down at the floor. "I guess you could say I've grown to be a pessimistic person."

"Maybe," Remus agreed, "but that's not who you used to be, Thea. You-Know-Who has set us all on edge, but we needn't worry about him while we're still here at Hogwarts. Dumbledore will ensure that we will be protected."

Althea took a deep breath, and then nodded. A small smile appeared on her face, "I'll try not to worry. Now, move. We've got to get to class."

"Aw."

"Don't tell me that Remus Lupin actually wants to skip classes?"

"So, what if I do?"

"That's like blasphemy," Althea laughed stepping closer to him and smiling coyly. She wrapped her arms around her neck. "Well instead of class, what do you propose we do?"

"I can think of a few ideas," he said smiling.

Then he leaned forward, pressing his lips to hers and all thoughts of going to class vanished from her mind.


	15. Chapter Fifteen

**_Seventh Year_**

For the next couple months Althea tried her best to push all negative thoughts from her mind, and ignore the words from the fourth-year Ravenclaw. For the most part, she had been successful. But every now and then, the words from Celia would pop into her head and the guilt would once again consume her. Thankfully, Remus was there for her and was able to draw her out of her self-imposed exile and depression. He reminded her that it wasn't her fault; that she was only one person and she couldn't possibly be responsible for the deaths. It was still hard, though for Althea to not blame herself. It didn't help when the Slytherins would make snide remarks and tease her. They only seemed to make the situation worse.

As their graduation neared, Althea came to a few realizations about herself and life in general. The first, was that she couldn't control what happened in life and she shouldn't blame herself for what she couldn't control. The second, was that she didn't think that she could live without Remus in her life. She had never pictured herself as the girl who needed a man in her life but, she hadn't been considering Remus then. Now she knew that she needed him in her life, he had been such a big part of it already and she didn't know what she would do if suddenly he was gone. The third revelation was, that she wanted to continue writing and taking a stand against You-Know-Who even if it was in a passive-aggressive way. The fourth and final revelation Althea recognized, was that she wanted to still remain friends with people from Hogwarts. She didn't want to leave and suddenly lose contact with everyone.

Althea yawned, pulling the blanket closer to her and staring unseeingly into the fire. For most of the school year she had been shirking her Prefect duties, but she had slowly stopped that. Patrolling was exhausting work, and she wondered why Remus seemed to like it so much. The door to the Common Room opened and the Marauders sans James stumbled in. Sirius was laughing loudly, Peter's face was all red, and Remus looked amused. Seconds later both Lily and James stormed into the Common Room embarrassed expressions on their faces. Remus offered the angry couple a shrug, before moving passed them and toward Althea. He sat on the couch beside her, wrapping his arms around her frame and burying his face in the crook of her neck.

"What did the three of you do?" She asked, reaching up and running her fingers through his hair.

"Nothing," he answered.

She rolled her eyes, not believing a word that he said but didn't push the subject. She'd find out eventually, she was sure. If there was one thing the Marauders weren't good at, it was keeping secrets. Honestly, she was surprised that they had managed to keep Remus's "condition" a secret. Althea sighed, snuggling closer to Remus.

"Exams are coming up soon," she muttered conversationally.

"So, they are. In about a month we're going to be graduates of Hogwarts," Remus replied a melancholic note in his voice. "It's surreal, isn't it?"

"Very," Althea murmured. She twisted in his arms so she could look at him. "I love you Remmy."

"Love you too, Thea."

The rest of the month passed by far too slowly for Althea's tastes. Since that night in the Common Room nothing much had changed with her and Remus. Except, they had grown more intimate and to everyone it was clear that the two were going to stay together after Hogwarts. Then finally, they were down to two weeks before graduation. They had finished their exams for the most part and now were getting everything ready for when they would finally leave Hogwarts. Althea stuffed her jeans into one of her suitcases and sighed loudly. As soon as they left Hogwarts, the situation with You-Know-Who would seem all too real, because they wouldn't be able to escape to a safe haven.

Althea zipped up her suitcase, and stuck her wand into the back pocket of the shorts she was wearing before heading downstairs into the Common Room. The other years were still taking their exams, so for now the seventh-years had the Common Room to themselves. Lily and James were cuddling on the couch looking disgustingly cute, Peter was in the corner eating chocolate, Sirius was who knows where, and Remus was sitting in front of the fireplace, a glass of tea clutched in his hands. Althea walked over, sinking onto the floor beside him.

"Hello," she greeted him quietly, rejoicing silently when he handed her the tea and let her have a sip. She twisted around to look at Lily and James, "Hello to you two."

"Hi Thea," Lily smiled brightly, pulling away from James her cheeks bright red. James groaned, his face falling onto her shoulder. "Oh, hi Remus. I didn't see you there."

"It's because you were too busy snogging James," Althea quipped, laughing a little when the two turned cherry red. Remus sighed shaking his head causing his girlfriend to turn to him innocently. "What did I say something wrong?"

Lily smiled, "It's nice to see you looking so relaxed Thea. It's been a long time, hasn't it? Since you've been this relaxed, I mean."

"Yeah." Althea said quietly. She shook off the pessimistic thoughts that were beginning to creep into her mind. "I'm happy."

At her side Remus grinned, curling an arm around her waist. She didn't miss the pleased smile on his face and shook her head in amusement. Everyone knew that Lily and James were going to move in together after they graduated, and Althea wondered what would happen with her and Remus. Would they do the same? Or would Remus say that they needed some space? She didn't know, and she didn't want to dwell on those thoughts too much.

"Have you guys picked a place to live yet?" Althea asked curiously, her eyes darting between the redhead and her beau.

"Nope," James said smiling proudly. "But we're going to figure it out."

"You better," Althea said sternly. She rolled her eyes, "I'm happy for you two. It only took you guys forever though, to get together."

"Yeah, well at least it finally happened," James muttered, his cheeks red with embarrassment.

Althea grinned cheekily, but didn't say anything else. She leaned against Remus, her eyes roving the Common Room. It was weird to think that they wouldn't be coming back. This school had been part of her life for so long, and to suddenly leave and not return was a strange thought. It meant that they were growing up, and loathe as Althea was to admit it, she would miss this place and hanging out with the Marauders – even Sirius. Arguably, Sirius had changed the most. He still flirted with anything that moved but he was also a lot more serious, at least around the professors.

Lily sighed, "Thea, what are you going to do when we graduate?"

"I don't know. Be a writer," Althea shrugged. "I haven't decided. What about you Lils?"

"I'm not sure either," Lily smiled. "But that's okay, I'll eventually figure it out."

They lapsed into silence once more. Althea's stomach gurgled and she sighed, standing up.

"I'm going to go to the kitchen."

"We'll come with," James said standing and dragging Lily with him.

Althea wanted to protest, as Remus rose to his feet but she didn't. This wasn't the time to pick a fight and she knew that they were only coming along because they were worried about her. With the end of the school year approaching, the Slytherins were getting restless particularly the Slytherins who were Death Eaters. They were itching to pick a fight and it was only a matter of time before it happened. Everyone in the school could see it; Slytherins weren't exactly subtle. So, James and Lily as Head Boy and Head Girl encouraged everyone especially first-years to never go anywhere alone. Of course, that wouldn't stop the Slytherins but for now it proved a powerful deterrent.

James tickled the pear and they slipped into the kitchen. The walk to the kitchen had been silent, and they hadn't run into any Slytherins. As stupid as it was, Althea was hoping that maybe the Slytherins were relaxing and that maybe they wouldn't pull anything until after they had graduated. She sighed, her leg jiggling up and down nervously as she ate the beef roast. Remus placed his hand on her leg to still her and she flushed, ducking her head. Once they were finished eating the quartet headed back up to the Gryffindor Common Room. Lingering anywhere else in the castle was asking for trouble, since the Slytherins were aching to start a fight.

Althea curled up on the couch beside Remus, her head resting lightly over his sternum. The rhythm of his heartbeat was soothing, and she closed her eyes snuggling closer. Remus smiled, combing his fingers through her hair. She wasn't asleep, she couldn't sleep since it wasn't even three o'clock yet. But, she was relaxed and feeling lethargic.

"Remmy," she asked quietly, "what are we going to do after we graduate?" She looked down at the floor, "Obviously, we've planned to stay together. But beyond that, what are we going to do?"

Remus sighed, his fingers ceasing their movement in her hair. "What do you want me to say Althea? I'm as clueless about this as you are."

"I know, but Lily's clueless too and she knows what she's doing with James." Althea protested sitting up, and frowning at him. "I mean, he's not her first boyfriend or anything but he's the first one that she's liked this much and…I don't know. What I'm trying to say is, they've got a plan. Even Sirius has a plan! Although his is much different than theirs. But, we don't and I'm just wondering what we're going to do."

Remus bit his lip, contemplatively and Althea pouted at him. She didn't want to pressure him into doing something that he didn't want to, but she needed to know. She didn't like being kept in the dark or having things happen spontaneously. If something was going to happen she needed to know so that she could plan and organize her life meticulously in accordance.

"Althea," Remus sighed.

She withdrew, moving away from him and looked down at her hands in her lap. "I'm not saying we have to move in together or that we have to get married. I'm just asking what's happening with us after graduation. What is happening with us after graduation?"

"Like you said, we're obviously staying together. Beyond that, I don't have an answer. I suppose we try to find jobs and we go about life as normal," Remus answered.

"Then you don't want me to move in with you?" For a brief moment, he hesitated and then Remus nodded. Althea sighed; it stung but she understood. "Fine, then I'm going to look into getting an apartment that I can share with a roommate. Hopefully, the good ones aren't taken."

"I'm sorry," he apologized, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her toward him.

"It's fine. I understand," Althea mumbled. She pushed away from him, getting to her feet. "Now if you'll excuse me I believe I have to look in to some apartment listings. Hopefully, I can find some."

She headed up to the girls' dormitory, leaving Remus behind on the couch watching her sadly. She didn't blame him, she couldn't – he just wasn't ready for that step and she wasn't going to push him. It stung, but she would get over it. Maybe the reason it stung so much was because obviously that wasn't what Lily and James were doing and they had been dating for only a short while, less of a time than her and Remus had been anyways. Althea sighed; even if they weren't moving in together she still had Remus. That was all she really needed for now.

Just him.


	16. Chapter Sixteen

**_Seventh Year_**

 _Dear Mom,_

 _Graduation is tomorrow and I'm pained that you are not going to be there. But, these things happen. Sometimes life is out of our control and that's okay. I don't blame you, your safety is more important than being here to watch your daughter graduate from Hogwarts. Is it weird to say that I'm excited yet at the same time I feel like I'm going to throw up? I hope not. I've been looking forward to this day for so long but now that it's actually here I'm not sure what to think. Life is spiraling out of control and changing faster than I can keep up with._

 _Lily and James, two of my friends (I'm sure I've told you about them) are moving in together and are going to get married. He hasn't proposed yet but we all know that it's going to happen; he's been in love with her since second-year or something like that. They're adorable, but I can't help but feel a little envious of them. That's not to say I don't treasure my relationship with Remus or that things are going poorly between us; everything is fine. But…I don't know how to explain it without sounding like a bitch (pardon my language). I don't want to say the relationship has stalled because that sounds horribly insensitive and that I don't think we're going anywhere but, it seems everyone's relationships are progressing further except ours. He doesn't want to move in with me and I've tried to be understanding yet at times I find it a little difficult. And marriage is practically a taboo word around him._

 _I know that we're young. We're both only seventeen, and not even out of Hogwarts (Yet). But I do want a future with him, I know that I do. However, I'm not quite sure that he feels the same; Remus has always been private and introspective, that's what I love about him because he's like me. But just this once, I wished that he didn't think about things so deeply and just let emotion guide him. More than anything, I just want a clear signal of where we're going. I want to know if we're ever going to move in together or if we're ever going to get married. This sounds like a conversation that I should be having with him, and I will in time. For now, I needed to get it off of my chest._

 _Graduation is a daunting prospect. I'm sure I've told you that before. I'm also sure that I've told you that I don't feel ready to move on into the real world and I still am not ready. Moving on means that the conflict with You-Know-Who is real. It suddenly makes every bad thing happening more real than what it already feels like. I'm not sure how to deal with that. God, I wish that you were in England so I could get your advice because now more than any other time that is what I need the most of. I've never been much of a Mama's girl, I've always fancied myself rather independent but I'd give anything right now for you to be here so I could run into your arms and have you dote on me and treat me like a little kid. I'm sorry for ranting._

 _Love,_

 _Althea_

Althea rolled up the parchment, tying it with a ribbon and whistled for her owl. Faith landed on the windowsill and Althea tied the letter to her leg, feeding her a quick treat before sending her off. She watched Faith until the owl was no longer in sight and then moved to head back to the Gryffindor Common Room. Her footsteps echoed on the stone floor, and every little noise or shadow made her hand twitch towards the wand at her waist. Tomorrow was graduation, hopefully the Slytherins would have enough sense not to do anything stupid. But, she had seen how restless they had grown. She rounded the corner, her eyes darting around the corridor nervously.

She couldn't see anyone, but that didn't mean they weren't there. Maybe there weren't Slytherins here waiting to ambush her. Maybe she was just being paranoid, but she figured it didn't hurt to be too careful. Being too trusting could get her killed. Althea moved further along, and moving faster the closer she got to the Gryffindor Common Room. She had two sets of stairs left, and a few hallways until she was within the safety of Gryffindor Tower. She had finished the last set of stairs when, she knew she wasn't alone. She whirled around, her eyes growing wide as a wand was pressed into the sensitive skin of her throat. Dammit. She had been too slow.

"Not a word Mudblood," the familiar voice of Timothy Yaxley hissed.

Althea tensed eyes growing ride, and unbidden tears sprang to her eyes. She remembered Yaxley. How could she forget him? He had tortured her, but Snape had saved her. Her eyes darted around the darkened corridor. But now there was no one here to help her. She wanted to curse; she had been so stupid to send out a letter on her own, she should have brought someone with her. She supposed that was why they said hindsight was 20/20.

The wand dug into her neck, and Althea winced away. Yaxley's eyes glimmered dangerously, and for the briefest moment she felt fear.

 _I have to be a Gryffindor. I have to be brave._

Her hand darted down to her wand, and she whipped it out pointing it at Yaxley. His eyes grew wide but he didn't do anything else. He didn't move he just stared at her, the tip of his wand pressing against her neck and her wand pointed at his head.

"You're not going to actually do anything, Mudblood," Yaxley taunted Althea. "You're too weak and spineless to do anything."

"Really?" Althea raised a brow. "Says the person who kidnaps and tortures someone just because they were born in a Muggle household. If that doesn't say cowardice and insecurity I don't know what else does."

His face practically turned purple with rage. He just started mouthing a spell, when she flicked her wrist. Light exploded in front of her, blinding Yaxley and partially blinding Althea. She ducked to the side, flinging a stunning spell at him. Yaxley was sent flying back into the stone wall. He crumpled to the ground unmoving. She could see his chest moving up and down as he breathed, so he was alive just unconscious. It filled her with relief to know that she hadn't accidentally killed him. Tucking her wand into the back pocket of her shorts, she turned around rushing toward Gryffindor Tower. Quickly whispering the password to the portrait, she slipped into the Common Room futilely hoping that she would go unnoticed.

But, she was by Remus. He stood up, his eyes wide as he stared at her. It was then she realized that her cheek was stinging. She raised her hand, lightly touching it and hissed in pain staring as her hand came back stained with blood.

"Thea!" Remus gasped, heading toward her closely followed by Sirius, James, Lily, and Peter. "What happened?" he demanded, holding her face in his hands.

Althea smiled sheepishly, "Well, I was sending a letter and I was ambushed by a Slytherin."

"Althea!" Lily scolded. "We told everyone to go out in pairs, because we knew something like this was going to happen."

"I know, I know," Althea muttered. "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking."

"Clearly," Remus snapped. His face softened when he saw her hurt eyes staring at him and he leaned closer to her, pressing his forehead against hers. "You worried me."

"I'm sorry," Althea apologized, feeling tears beginning to well in her eyes.

She was glad that he didn't say anything else. He just wrapped an arm around her, holding her tightly to him. As the war went on, things would only begin to get worse and this instance would be nothing in comparison. Still, that didn't take away how scary it had been. She sighed, sinking into Remus's embrace. Next time she went out of the Common Room, she'd end up bringing someone with her. Remus pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

"Are you alright?" He asked quietly.

"I don't know. But I will be," she smiled.


	17. Chapter Seventeen

**_May 20, 1978_**

Althea hummed quietly as she stepped into her modest apartment. It was strange to think that a week ago she had graduated, and she'd never be going back to Hogwarts. She was going to miss it, but she was pleased that the friendships she had made so far at least had remained intact. Kicking the door shut behind her, she slipped her shoes off and headed to the kitchen. Tonight, she was meeting up with Lily, James, Sirius and Remus – Peter had another engagement – to discuss Dumbledore's offer. Right after graduation he had approached them, with an offer to join the Order of the Phoenix. Of course, they had all heard of it before (you'd have to be living under a rock not to) and his offer had stumped them all.

James's first instinct had been to say yes, but Lily being as levelheaded as she was reminded both him and Sirius that they all should talk it over. Both boys had been grumpy but in the end, they had agreed, not wanting to risk being on the redhead's bad side. At the time Althea hadn't known what to think, and she still didn't know what to think. Joining the Order of the Phoenix? That screamed a lot of violence and danger, but in the end, it would help to bring down Voldemort. That was one of the things that she wanted most in the world. If He was gone, maybe she'd start to feel safe when she'd walk to work or when she went to Diagon Alley. So, they were meeting tonight, in Althea's meager apartment. Remus had been averse to the idea at first, because he feared that if Death Eaters were watching any of them it would lead straight to Althea and the last thing that he wanted was for her to get hurt.

Althea, in response had only rolled her eyes and insisted that her apartment was in the best place. Everywhere else was too public for a meeting of this importance, and it wasn't like they could go to Sirius's house – he didn't have one, and was crashing at Remus's – and Remus was living near his parents. The last thing she wanted to do was put his parents in danger. So, it was decided, tonight they would meet at Althea's apartment to discuss the Order of the Phoenix. Althea spent the better part of the day cleaning her apartment so it didn't look like a pigsty and then she curled up on her small tattered couch, a book in her hands and read waiting for the rest of her friends to arrive.

Lily and James were the first to arrive, hands intertwined. They had Apparated into the apartment, startling Althea and causing her to scream. Lily and James had burst out into laughter, but there was an understanding light in their eyes. They knew why she had been frightened and they couldn't fault her for it. After giving them a rough time for scaring her, she went into the kitchen to get them tea a small smile on her face. That was when Remus arrived, on time as usual. She walked out of the kitchen two mugs of tea in her hand and smiled at Remus quickly, before giving the tea to Lily and James who were sitting on the couch.

Althea felt a flush crawling up her cheeks as Remus approached her, his eyes languidly roving around her tiny apartment. He grabbed her hand, intertwining their figures. Then they were just waiting for Sirius to arrive. It was no surprise that he was late – it was Sirius after all – but that didn't keep the ire from appearing in James's eyes as he stared at his best friend. Althea cleared her throat nervously, hoping to stop a fight from breaking out.

"So, Order of the Phoenix," Althea murmured, squeezing Remus's hand. "What are all of us thinking about that?"

"I want to join," Lily said, looking up from her place beside James. "I hate living in fear all the time, and if there's something that I can do to stop that and to stop Him, I want to do it."

"I wanted to say yes as soon as he offered," James spoke up. "Lily insisted that we talk about this rationally, but for me nothing has changed. I still want to say yes."

"Obviously I'm going wherever you're going mate," Sirius said with a roll of his eyes. "It's a bonus, that it'll piss of my family and I can get some sweet revenge."

The three then turned to Althea and Remus who for the most part had been silent. The two glanced at each other and then at their friends.

It was Remus who spoke first. "I want to join as well. I feel like I can be of some use to Dumbledore because of my condition," he spoke, voice slightly strangled. "I have no doubt that the other side will be trying to recruit others of my kind and it would be an aid if Dumbledore would have a werewolf on his side as well. A werewolf that could eventually try to gain other allies."

"What about you Thea?" Lily asked, and the smaller girl shifted her feet.

"I want to join too, but I'm afraid I won't be of much use. I'm not that great of a duelist, and my Potions work while adequate and maybe better than average is in no way outstanding." Althea shrugged her shoulders, "But I do want to join the Order of the Phoenix even if I'm not sure that I'll be of much use."

"Don't doubt yourself so much, Thea," Lily lightly scolded her, and the blush on her cheeks deepened. "You were the most capable witch in our year!"

"Thanks," Althea mumbled ducking her head bashfully.

"So, we're all in agreement then?" James asked, looking around at all of them. "Great. Then the five of us will join the Order."

"What about Peter?" Remus asked, thinking of their slightly pudgy friend.

"He didn't seem to express much of an interest in it," Althea spoke up. "I mean, Dumbledore mentioned it and he turned white as a sheet. Plus, when we mentioned talking about it tonight he suddenly had other plans. He might not want to."

"I agree with Thea," Lily said. "For now, we give Peter time and space so he can think about it. If he doesn't want to join the Order, there's nothing that we can do about it and it will do us no good to push it on him. Peter has to decide on his own that this is what he wants."

The other Marauders looked reluctant but agreed to it, because none of them wanted to push the girls on it. Lily would stubbornly stick to her point, and there was no doubt that Althea would back her up with incredibly valid arguments that they had no hope of refuting even with Remus on their side. They once again confirmed that they'd all like to join the Order, and then Sirius was gone. Lily and James stayed awhile to chat with Remus and Althea, before they too left. The two lovers curled up on the couch, both of them silent as they reflected on what had happened.

It was around nine o'clock when Remus tried to leave. As soon as he tried disentangling himself from Althea though he froze, as she looked up at him with puppy-dog eyes and a pout. She tugged at his hand, urging him to sit down once again and even though he knew that he should have left he sat back down staring at her softly.

"What's wrong Thea?" he asked, a touch of amusement in his voice as he gathered her into his lap.

She smiled against the skin of his neck, "Can't I want my boyfriend to stay over without there being anything wrong?"

He laughed. "Yes, but I think something is bothering you."

"How do you know?" she asked, leaning back to look at him curiously.

He tapped her nose, "I know you pretty well, Althea. You're easy to read."

"Well, I'm just worried." Althea mumbled. "We're all joining the Order and as wonderful as it is, I can't help but feel that something bad is going to happen. This makes it all too real now, and I worry about Lily and James, Sirius, and you. I just, don't like it."

"Nothing bad will happen to any of us, Althea you worry too much," Remus scolded her, leaning forward and pressing a chaste kiss to her lips. "Even if something were to happen to me, you'd have Lily, James and Sirius. Or if something would happen to one of them, you'd have the rest of us. You wouldn't be alone."

"I'm not afraid of being alone." _Lie._ "Not entirely. I just don't want anything to happen to any of you guys. I mean, when I get married I want Lily to be my maid-of-honor, and I want to be the godmother to her kids whenever she has any." Althea shrugged helplessly. "I don't want all of that to be ripped away."

"It won't be," Remus soothed her. "You're going to drive yourself crazy worrying about all the what ifs, Thea. You've got to stop it. Let whatever happens happen."

"Easier said than done," she said with a frown.

She wanted to believe that it was as easy as Remus was making it out to be but truthfully, she knew that it wasn't. Not for her. She snuggled closer to Remus, and closed her eyes. She wanted this moment of peacefulness to just last for one moment longer. Just one moment to relax in peace and enjoy the feel of Remus's arms around her.

"I love you," she whispered into his shoulder.

"I love you too."

"Forever?"

"Always."


	18. Chapter Eighteen

**_May 27, 1978_**

May twenty-fifth found the Marauders – including Peter – and Lily and Althea inducted as official members of the Order of the Phoenix. The next day, Sirius and James began their Auror training and Remus was gone on a mission for Dumbledore (he had been gone since the twenty-first). Althea had no clue where he was or what he was doing, and it terrified her but she tried to keep from worrying too much. Lily, was doing her best to keep busy and that ended up with the two girls spending a lot of time together more often than not with Molly and Arthur Weasley (unofficial Order members) and their little ones Bill (8), Charlie (6), Percy (2), and Fred and George who were just under two months old.

Althea found that she quite liked the Weasleys; they were a nice family, if a little bit scatterbrained and eccentric. It was a shame, that they were deemed as 'blood traitors' and that their lives were in danger because neither were against Muggles (in fact, Arthur, Molly's husband had a strange fascination with them). The twenty-seventh of May, proved to be the most interesting day yet for Althea since graduating Hogwarts. Her original plan for the day had been to visit the Weasleys, and play with Percy or the twins but she ended up not going to the Weasleys because Dumbledore had Apparated into the middle of her living room scaring the daylights out of her.

Althea pressed a hand over her heart, staring at her former Headmaster warily. She trusted him; if she didn't she wouldn't have joined the Order, but his sudden appearance had startled her and she could only guess that he had some stupid mission that he wanted to send her on. Dumbledore smiled, eyes twinkling behind his half-moon spectacles.

"Good morning Miss Morgan, I hope I did not interrupt anything important," Dumbledore said.

"You didn't," Althea assured him. Hastily she added, "Sir."

"Good, good. I apologize for my sudden appearance, but there is a rather important matter that I need your help with."

Althea arched her eyebrows, staring at him skeptically. "And what would that be?"

He smiled, "I'm glad you asked Miss Morgan. You do not have to help, if you don't want to but you were the first person I thought of." Althea only nodded. "We need safe houses for Order members. I was hoping that you'd be able to help with finding good places for a safe house, and that you would lay the protection charms."

"How many safe houses?"

"At least two."

She sighed, crossing her arms over her chest and looking down at the ground. As far as missions go, this didn't sound very dangerous but if Death Eaters found out then it would be. It was a risk, but everything involved a risk now. Plus, she felt like she needed to do her part to stop Voldemort. If setting up safe houses was the way to go then she would do it.

"I'll do it," Althea said. A smile flickered across Dumledore's face before being quickly extinguished. "Am I the only one to know about this?"

"No. Gideon and Fabian Prewett, Molly's brothers know as well," Dumbledore admitted. "You three are the only ones that know."

"Good. The less people who know the better," Althea murmured. "When do you want me to start?"

"I take it that you agree, then?" At Althea's nod Dumbledore smiled; she certainly had grown spirited since her days at Hogwarts. "As soon as you are able to. Preferably by tonight, at the latest I would say tomorrow. Is that agreeable?"

"Of course, it is," Althea said. "It doesn't matter where the safe houses are, does it?"

"No."

"Good," she hummed. She smiled, "Guess I have some work to do."

After Dumbledore left, Althea headed to her bookshelf grabbing several atlases so she could plot out the best spots for the safe houses that Dumbledore had in mind. Two wouldn't be enough, she suspected. The Order wasn't exactly a small organization, and the safe houses could maybe be used to house those who weren't in the Order too. She'd have to run that idea by Dumbledore first. Althea sketched out a map of Muggle London, deciding that she'd set up two houses there, one in Diagon Alley, and one in Dover (a city near the sea). Maybe, if there were time and a need she could establish more safe houses away from London. She put the atlases back and grabbed her paper, detailing the locations of the safe houses and the spells that she would use. Althea glanced down at her list, committing it to memory and then threw it into the fire. Tonight, she would get as many safe houses done by herself as she can.

Spinning on her heel she Apparated first to Diagon Alley. When she had been much younger, the streets had always been filled with color and laughter. Now, it was completely different. The streets weren't packed as they normally were, and everyone was quiet and sullen as they shuffled toward their destinations. Althea frowned, finding it sad and looked down at the ground brushing by Bellatrix Lestrange. She kept her head ducked, hoping that the other girl wouldn't notice her – if she did, that would spell trouble. It was a known fact that Bellatrix was a Death Eater – she hadn't exactly tried to hide it. Lightning flashed through the sky, and the rumble of thunder that followed made Althea jump and hurry toward a small, abandoned house.

Then it started to rain. She ducked into the house, keeping a watchful eye on the streets as everyone rushed to find shelter. Bellatrix remained where she had been standing for some time, a frown on her face. The older woman looked around, and when she didn't find what she was looking for she Disapparated. As soon as Bellatrix was gone, Althea sagged a relieved breath escaping her. Then she turned to the house.

"Cave inimicum!" Althea shouted, waving her wand. _Protego totalum._

Her skin tingled as her magic took effect, and with a small smile she Disapparated. The first safe house in Diagon Alley was secure, at least for now. She didn't think that anyone would come near it since it was abandoned but even if they did, she had put two very powerful protection spells on them. She then Apparated to a house in Dover that belonged to Arabella Figg (a Squib and Order member). Althea placed protection spells, and Muggle-repelling spells around the house, and just as quickly as she appeared she had disappeared. She only had two more safe houses left, but those would have to wait until tomorrow. Maybe, she'd bring back-up with her.

Althea sighed, running a hand through her hair. She had Apparated to her apartment, but looking at it now it was too quiet. More than anything, she didn't want to be alone. But Remus was gone, and James and Lily weren't an option (the two couldn't be separated and when they were together they acted entirely too couple-y), so that left Sirius and Peter. She immediately abandoned the idea of visiting Peter; she didn't know him that well and something about him was suspicious to her. So that left, Sirius. Maybe, she could convince him to go with her tomorrow to do the last two safe houses. Then she shook her head. No, Sirius needed to concentrate on his Auror training.

Althea bit her lip, and then a smile crossed her face. She could go to Gideon and Fabian! Dumbledore said they knew about the safe houses, and having more than one eye could be useful. She padded into the kitchen; she'd ask them tomorrow if they'd mind helping her. If they didn't, then she'd go to Sirius and see if he would help. She just had a bad feeling about tomorrow.

The night passed rather uneventfully, and when she woke up Althea felt well-rested and ready to go spell the last two safe houses. The houses belonged to a Squib in the Order who primarily resided in the Muggle world. She had bought the two houses and graciously gave them to Dumbledore for the Order to use. Althea wrapped her arms around her middle, staring hazily at the floor. Anxiety crawled through her veins causing her stomach to toss and turn, as it clenched uncomfortably. Something bad was going to happen today; she just knew it. But she couldn't dwell on it. She had a job to do.

Slowly Althea changed her clothes, her hands going surreptitiously going to the necklace that Remus had given her around Christmas. Her fingers wrapped gently around the cool metal of the wolf pendant and for some inexplicable reason her eyes began to water. Sniffling, she wiped at her eyes with one hand, while the other tightened its grip around the necklace. Really, she knew why that she was in tears. Merlin, she missed Remus so much. Truthfully, they hadn't been apart for very long but it was jarring to go from seeing him every day to suddenly not seeing him at all. It didn't help that she didn't know if he was okay; he was surrounded by other werewolves trying to sway them from joining Voldemort and that automatically put him in danger. It hurt, not knowing if he was truly okay or not.

She inhaled shakily, letting the pendant drop to rest against the warm skin of her breastbone. She would have to worry about him later; right now, she had two more safe houses to go secure. She couldn't afford to be distracted (any more than she already was). Althea grabbed a light jacket, zipping it up and tucking her wand into one of the sleeves well within easy reach. She looked around her apartment for a moment, insuring that she hadn't forgotten anything or neglected to grab something. Then turned on her heel and with a large crack Disapparated to go find the Prewetts.

Admittedly, she wasn't very close with either Gideon or Fabian but she was close with their younger sister Molly so she was confident if she asked for their help they would readily offer it. Gideon and Fabian weren't bad people, Althea knew that, and she also knew that they were fiercely loyal especially to the Order. Althea pushed open the rickety door to Gideon's and Fabian's ramshackle house, looking around curiously. She knew that the two Purebloods could afford better accommodations than this especially in the middle of nowhere but, she thought that was exactly the point. The last place anyone (like Voldemort or his Death Eaters) would think to look for the two would be here.

"Gideon?" Althea called, walking into the living room. "Fabian?"

"Thea?" a confused voice asked, popping his head out of the kitchen. By his voice, she knew that it was Fabian. "What are you doing here?"

"I need your help," she confessed, tucking her hands into the pocket of her jeans.

The redhead's hazel eyes glimmered with interest as he strolled into the living room. "What with?" he asked, tilting his head to the side curiously.

"Safe places," Althea whispered. She looked at Fabian, "I know that Dumbledore told the two of you. And honestly, I don't feel safe in Muggle London by myself. You-Know-Who has proved he has no qualms over killing Muggles."

"It's not safe for you to go along," Fabian said with a nod. "Sure, Gideon and I will go with you. Just give us a moment. He's visiting his girly friend."

"Girly friend?" Althea smiled, "I didn't know that Gideon had a girlfriend."

A crooked smile appeared on his face, "Well, yes generally when one is at war they try to keep their private lives hidden." Althea flushed. "They haven't been together long. A few months, maybe. But they are madly in love – it's actually kind of gross." He looked at her, hazel eyes glimmering with laughter and mischief. "They aren't as gross as you and Remus, though."

The flush on her cheeks darkened, "S-Shut up Fabian."

"Nah," he shrugged. "I have mischief to create."

"You sound like James and Sirius," Althea grumbled.

"I think he'll end up taking that as a compliment," a huskier and slightly deeper voice commented. Althea whirled around coming face to face with the other redhead. "What are you doing here Thea?"

"She needs our help," Fabian said. "Well, I'm sure that she could handle it on her own but it's not safe to be alone, right Gideon?"

"Of course not," Gideon snapped, crossing his arms over his chest. "So, when are we leaving?"

"Now, if you're ready." Althea said, looking between the twins.

Fabian shrugged, and Gideon's mouth rose in a half-smile. Then they turned to Althea identical grins on their faces.

"Yeah, we can leave now." They said in unison.

She rolled her eyes, and with a crack Disapparated trusting that they would follow her. She appeared in the back of a dark alley, just beside one of the safe houses. There were two louds cracks next to her as Gideon and Fabian appeared, and she pressed a hand above her racing heart. They had scared the crap out of her. She had of course known that they would follow her, but being in Muggle London made her nervous. One would think that the Muggle world or at least being surrounded by Muggles would ease her nerves because it'd be safer, but it wasn't. It was as dangerous if not more so.

Voldemort's dislike of Muggles was well-known, and there were frequent attacks on them. Fabian wrapped an arm around her shoulders, guiding her toward the house with Gideon walking slowly beside them. For once the two redheads were silent, and all traces of their previous happy dispositions had faded being replaced by a more somber demeanor.

Gideon nudged Althea, "Nothing's going to go wrong."

At first she believed him. She had charmed the first house, making the protection spells so strong that it'd be nearly impossible for any enemies of the Order to break-in. It had been as they walking to the second house when everything suddenly went wrong. Althea screamed, ducking as a jet of green light shot over her head. If she had been standing upright it would have hit her right in the head. Her wand slid from her sleeve into her hand, as Gideon and Fabian looked around their surroundings. There were several loud cracks as they were surrounded by Death Eaters, many of whom Althea didn't recognize but some of whom she did. Bellatrix Lestrange was there, so was Antonin Dolohov, and Timothy Yaxley. Yaxley had a cocky smile on his face as he eyed the three members of the Order.

"What are two blood traitors and a Mudblood doing in London?" Bellatrix cooed. "Shouldn't you all be dead by now?"

Fabian didn't reply, at least not with a clever, witty retort. "Stupefy!"

Gideon reacted at the same time, throwing up a shield spell that barely managed to hold up against the curses and hexes the Death Eaters were sending toward the trio. Althea ducked another spell, probably meant to kill her. Of course, it had been from Yaxley.

"Alarte ascendare!" Althea shouted, flicking her wand.

Yaxley's eyes widened in surprise and a startled shout escaped his mouth as her spell tossed him high into the air. He fell to the ground with a sickening crunch, but managed to somehow wobble back to his feet even as blood trickled from his mouth and he held a broken arm to his chest. She quickly disarmed him and using a summoning charm obtained his wand, which she stuffed into her pocket. Yaxley paled, a dangerous glint flickering in his eyes but then quickly Disapparated. He knew he was useless at wandless magic. The other Death Eaters were much slower to move; Fabian and Bellatrix were still battling fiercely while the battle between Dolohov and Gideon looked to be almost over with Gideon as expected having the upper hand.

"Bombarda maxima!" Fabian shouted.

The wall behind Bellatrix exploded, caking the street in dust and rubble. Bellatrix stumbled forward, as rock fell toward and around her and with a crack Disapparated before she could be crushed by the weakening structure. After Bellatrix fled the rest of the Death Eaters soon followed suit, leaving the trio alone and exhausted. Althea leaned against Gideon, who was closest to her, wiping at her dirt stained cheek and was surprised as it stung and her hand came away with blood.

Gideon sighed, raking a hand through his red hair. "That could have gone better I think."

The sound of sirens reached their ears and they straightened up. "We better go," Althea said, grabbing onto Gideon.

He spun quickly on his heel, Fabian quickly following suit as they Disapparated. They Apparated to Lily and James's rental house, startling the couple who had been snogging on the couch. James shouted, yanking away from Lily and falling onto the floor his glasses askew on his face, while Lily gasped her cheeks blushing bright red. Her embarrassment was quickly replaced by horror and worry as she took in their appearances.

"Are you okay?" She asked, rising to her feet, an out of place frown on her normally serene features.

"Peachy," Fabian quipped sarcastically, pressing a hand to a wound his forehead and grimacing when it came back with blood. "You wouldn't mind owling Dumbledore for us would ya?"

"Sorry about him," Gideon apologized, skirting by Lily and standing in front of his twin with a concerned look on his face. "He gets cranky when he's injured."

"You would too," Fabian grumbled as he narrowed his eyes.

Lily looked away from the two of them, her lips twitching with amusement. "Are you okay Thea?"

The girl jerked, as if started that she was being addressed and then after a moment she nodded. She wrapped her arms around her middle, watching hazily as Lily tended to the wounds of Gideon and Fabian while James owled Dumbledore and the other members of the Order. She didn't react when Dumbledore Apparated into the living room, or as the other members of the Order arrived. Instead she slunk toward the small window, quiet as a church mouse and an apathetic expression on her face. Sirius, of course being observant as he was, waved off James's words and approached Althea. The two had of course been friends but they had never grown quite as close as she was with Lily, so to find him suddenly approaching her after breaking a conversation with his best friend startled her a bit.

"Are you okay, Thea?" Sirius asked, dark eyes brimming with concern.

"Yeah," she croaked, voice hoarse. She blinked then tried again, "Yeah. I'm fine, Sirius."

"Good. If you weren't I think Moony might kill someone," he smiled trying to ease the tension in the room.

Althea's lips twitched but she didn't smile. "Maybe. If he ever comes back."

"He's going to come Thea, you don't need to worry about that," Sirius assured her, wrapping an arm around her. "He wouldn't just up and leave you. He loves you."

She didn't answer. She didn't feel the need to; she knew that Remus loved her, she didn't doubt that for a second. But she also knew that right now the Order came first, and for the time being she wouldn't be his primary concern. That was fine with her, because Voldemort needed to be stopped. That however, didn't mean that she had to like it.

Sirius sighed, "Thea, you know that don't you?" Apparently, he had taken her silence as a bad thing.

"Of course, I do Sirius, I'm not daft," Althea snapped.

Sirius grinned, ruffling her hair. "Good. Cause you're the best thing that's ever happened to Remus, aside from him becoming friends with me."

Althea rolled her eyes, while a different voice said, "I think I'd like to disagree with that Padfoot."

Her heart jumped, and she peered around Siriu's bulkier frame to see one Remus Lupin standing there near the doorway. He looked a little worse for wear with bags underneath his eyes, and a few scratches on his cheeks but that didn't matter to her because he was here. Althea shot toward him, wrapping her arms around his waist and he chuckled returning the embrace and dropping a kiss to the top of her head while Sirius groaned that they were entirely too cute and he might get cavities. Althea didn't answer, too preoccupied with the fact that Remus was here.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, voice muffled against his chest.

"Dumbledore told me what had happened," Remus answered his voice near a whisper. "I got here as soon as I was able, and in light of what happened he also made me put my mission on hold." His arms tightened around her, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she answered. "Dirty and I have a cut on my face, but other than that I'm okay."

Remus pushed her away from him. "Tergeo," he mumbled. His eyes fell to the cut on her cheek, "Episkey."

The cut sealed up and Remus drew her back into his arms, unconsciously curling his body around hers as if trying to shield her from something. Althea smiled, happily curving her body toward him as she rested her head over Remus's chest, his heart steadily pounding in her ear.

"Hey, Remus, I think we all need to go on a vacation," Sirius said loudly, a grin on his face that had Althea rolling her eyes.

"Now?" Remus sighed. "Honestly, Padfoot this isn't the best time."

Sirius pouted. "But vacations are fun! And it looks like your girly-friend needs one."

"Sirius, be logical. We are in the midst of a wizarding war, and you think it's a good idea to go on vacation?"

"Well when you put it that way, yes."

* * *

 **This chapter is one of my longest chapters, so I hope you enjoy it. There is also a little foreshadowing to a future event which I'm wondering if anyone would notice. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and feel free to leave a review.**


	19. Chapter Nineteen

**_June 5, 1978_**

While Remus, Althea and Lily had all thought that going on a vacation especially now was stupid, it didn't surprise any of them when Sirius managed to sway James to his side and convince them all to somewhere. Althea dug her toes into the sand, wrapping her arms around her legs as she watched James and Sirius horsing around in the ocean. That was how they all found themselves on a small island off of the coast of Ireland; it was so small that it didn't show up on any maps and the only person that had known about it had been Dumbledore. Honestly, Althea wasn't even surprised that Dumbledore had agreed with Sirius and practically ordered them to go on a vacation.

She would admit that it was nice to get away from the stresses in England, yet at the same time she felt guilty because everyone else was still having to deal with it. She still appreciated the thought and it was nice to hang out with just the Marauders (sans Peter) and Lily. As expected, Peter had declined to go on the vacation saying that he had other work to do and while Althea did find it quite odd (she had never thought the boy was particularly hard-working) nobody questioned it and just wished him well in whatever he was doing. The sun was shining brightly high in the sky, and Althea looked down at her arms. She hoped that she didn't burn.

At her side, Lily groaned closing the book that she had been reading. "Where's Remus?" Lily asked, turning to said man's girlfriend.

Althea shrugged, "How am I supposed to know?" She looked around, "I'd bet that he's getting us something to drink."

"You'd bet right," a voice said from behind the two girls causing both Lily and Althea to jump. Remus smiled handing Lily and Althea glasses of lemonade. "I was bored while horsing around with Sirius and James and it doesn't look like they are going to stopping anytime soon."

He settled beside Althea on the sand and she happily curled into his side, taking a sip of her lemonade. "They are just like children, aren't they?" she murmured, flushing as Remus's arm wrapped around her bare waist.

"I suppose," Lily agreed hesitatingly. "Remind me why I like James again?"

"No idea," Althea chirped.

"I suppose it could be due to the fact that he eventually wore you down after asking you out nearly every day for at least five years," Remus quipped. He shrugged his shoulders, "But really, who knows?"

Lily shook her head with a smile. "Honestly, not all of us can get together like the two of you did." At their blank looks she elaborated, "Being friends first and then becoming a couple."

"Isn't that what people should normally do?" Althea looked at Lily quizzically. "If anything, you and James are the abnormal ones."

Remus barked out a laugh, tugging Althea closed to his side, his thumb absently rubbing circles into the skin at her waist and causing a delighted flush to spread up the girl's neck and across her cheeks. Lily huffed out an irritated breath, watched the two fondly for a moment and then returned to reading her book. Althea smiled, sipping contentedly at her lemonade as the trio watched James and Sirius horsing around. While, she still didn't think that the vacation was the best idea and she felt bad that no one else could come along, she was glad that Sirius had suggested going on a vacation.

Plus, it was nice spending time with Remus without having to worry about him leaving on a mission or her leaving on a mission. It would be nice to relax for a few days, and spend time with the people that were quickly becoming her family.

"Remus!" James shouted, waving over to the werewolf and his girlfriend. "Come on!"

"Yeah Moony! Have some fun!" Sirius cheered, trying to goad him into leaving Althea.

Remus glanced down at Althea, who was watching him carefully. She could see that truthfully, he didn't want to go. From the way, his grip tightened on her waist, she knew that he'd much rather sit here with her and relax but he also wanted to spend time with his friends. She smiled, brushing a kiss across his jaw her smile widening when she his eyes dilate and darken. Althea watched him carefully, and ducked her head when he shook his head and James and Sirius began to whine quite loudly. Remus didn't answer, instead electing to ignore them as he turned his attention back to his girlfriend.

She grinned up at Remus, "Are you sure you don't want to shove James and Sirius into the water?"

"I can always do that later," Remus answered. "We're going to be here for three more days."

"If you say so."

He didn't answer, just merely rolled his eyes before leaning closer and pressing a kiss to her forehead. Althea glanced toward the ocean where James and Sirius were still roughhousing. She was pleased that James and Lily had gotten together, and she was also happy that her and Remus were still together but she worried a little bit for Sirius. She wanted him to find someone, and she always felt a little bad because he was always surrounded by couples. Lightly, Remus stroked his fingers against the skin of her arms drawing Althea's thoughts away from Sirius and back to the man sitting beside her.

Althea sipped her lemonade, eyeing Remus. His hair had grown longer since school had ended and he seemed to have filled out a little more, but physical changes aside he was still her Remus. She still wanted to be more than just his girlfriend, but she wasn't going to push him. Althea knew that he was still insecure about being a werewolf and she didn't want to push him into something that he wasn't ready for. For now, being his girlfriend was good enough for her. Remus leaned closer to her and she tilted her face up, fighting back a smile as his lips brushed against hers in a chaste kiss.

The kiss wasn't chaste for long. He squeezed her waist, causing her to gasp and quickly deepened the kiss. She was briefly aware that his lips were slightly chapped, but the thought was soon banished from her mind as he pushed her back onto the sand, coming to hover over her on his forearms his lips never once parting from hers. The empty glass fell from her hands into the sand. With her hands now free, Althea twined her arms around Remus's neck holding him close to her. His hands brushed against the soft skin of her stomach and sides, causing goosebumps to dance over her skin and she shivered.

Remus chuckled against her mouth, his thumb stroking the soft skin of her stomach. A flush crawled up her cheeks, and reluctantly she broke the kiss looking away from Remus. He frowned, brushing a kiss across her cheek and trying to coax her into looking at him. Her stomach had always been a sensitive spot for her; it had always been just a little bit pudgy and while she knew Remus didn't mean any harm it caused her to feel self-conscious, something that he seemed to pick up on.

"Thea," Remus groaned, lips trailing from her cheek to the corner of her mouth. "Look at me." She pouted, her eyes darting to him questioningly before just as quickly looking away. "Tell me what's wrong," he coaxed, his hand brushing teasingly against her stomach. She tensed and he sighed. "Is it your stomach?"

No answer.

"Thea," he sighed.

Finally, she muttered, "Yes."

"Don't be self-conscious," he lightly scolded her, rolling off of her. He glanced at her, his eyes showing his displeasure. "You're beautiful." He turned his attention to the sky. "You keep telling me to not be self-conscious because I'm a werewolf, so don't be self-conscious because of your appearance."

Althea sighed, sitting up and staring at Remus but he didn't look at her. She had to admit that he did have a point. She really should take her own advice. With that thought in mind, she crawled over to him, straddling his hips. Instinctively his hands rose, holding onto her waist as if he was trying to keep her balanced.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

A small, crooked half-smile appeared on his face then. "You don't have anything to be sorry for. I just wish that you wouldn't doubt yourself."

"I'm working on it," she said with a smile. Her eyes softened and she leaned closer to him, "Love you."

"I love you too."

For the remainder of the day, the two remained on the beach talking about whatever they wished. Eventually, Lily, James and Sirius headed into the beach house but Remus and Althea stayed outside even as darkness began to fall. It was only until after the sun had set, that the two decided to head inside. The two slowly clambered to their feet, and headed to the beach house which looked to be dark and silent. Remus squeezed her hand, and she grinned stepping closer to him as he pushed open the screen door. She slowly slipped into the house, letting out a squeak when suddenly all of the lights flickered on revealing James, Sirius, and Lily. In the center of the dining room was a table with only two places set, candles and rose petals. It was a little too cliché but it succeeded in making the whole atmosphere a romantic feel.

Remus's hand at her back, startled her into action and on shaky limbs she moved forward, her eyes darting toward James, Sirius and Lily but the expressions on their faces gave nothing away.

"Remus, what is going on?" Althea asked, sitting hesitantly at the table. She felt far too underdressed in just her swimsuit.

He smiled, his eyes glimmering playfully. "It was supposed to be a secret, but you don't really like secrets. So, I guess the cat is out of the bag so to speak."

"Stop with the Muggle phrases and just tell me what's going on," she laughed, smiling at him.

The smile quickly faded, to be replaced by a stunned and hopeful look when he knelt beside her digging something out of his swimming trunks. Her eyes fell on the velvet box in his hand and her eyes widened, when he opened it revealing a ring.

"Originally, my plan was to ask you while you were reading. But, Lily and James found out and they insisted that I try to make it something spectacular and romantic," Remus murmured with a good-natured glare in the direction of his closest friends. "Anyways, that isn't important. You've been my best friend for a long time, Thea, and I love spending time with you. I'm a monster…I'm a werewolf and you still accepted me for who I was. You don't fear me, even though I am nothing but a monster and I find it hard to imagine life without you." At the end of his speech his cheeks were bright red. "Will you marry me?"

"Of course I will, Remmy," Althea murmured her voice soft as she stared at him.

He slid the ring onto her finger, but her eyes never left his. The calm, euphoric happy atmostphere was interrupted by James and Sirius whooping, and Lily letting out a sheer scream.

"Congratulations!" The redhead shot forward, tackling Althea into a hug. "So, how does it feel being the future Mrs. Lupin?"

"Give it some time to sink in," Althea scolded her half-heartedly glancing down at the modest ring. She grinned, "But right now it feels pretty great."

"Yay!" Lily squealed.

James laughed, walking forward to pull his overexcited girlfriend away from Remus and his fiancée. "Give them some time to enjoy it, Lily. Let's go. Come on Sirius!"

Then the two were left alone. It was hard for Althea to fight a smile, and Remus's cheeks were still red. But, the dinner was enjoyable and with the absence of their closest friends the awkwardness faded and they began talking as they normally did. There was no hiding how the two of them felt deliriously happy though, or the euphoric feelings coursing through their bodies. Getting married while Voldemort was still terrorizing the wizarding community, perhaps didn't sound like the best idea, but they were going to. If Althea were to die during this war, she didn't want to die as Althea Morgan; she wanted to die as Althea Lupin, Remus Lupin's wife.

"I love you, Remmy."

"I love you too."

* * *

 **This chapter was inspired by Red Velvet's song "Red Flavor". Originally, I never intended for Remus and Althea to get engaged (at least this soon) but before you know it, I had written the scene and I found that I couldn't cut it out because I thought it fit in this chapter. Anyways, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and feel free to leave a review. Also, in a few days I will be publishing a Hunger Games fanfiction that I've been working on so be on the look out for that as well.**


	20. Chapter Twenty

**_August 5, 1978_**

 _Dear Mom,_

 _Boy, do I have a lot to tell you._ _A lot has happened since I have graduated from Hogwarts, and honestly all of the changes taking place are a little overwhelming. Death Eater attacks have been much more frequent, and the stress of it has been getting to all of us. But there have been good things that have happened. For instance, Lily and James are engaged (they are getting married at the end of August) and Remus and I, we have also gotten engaged. I'm sorry I haven't told you, sooner but things have been hectic lately._

 _I remember the day of our engagement, vividly (June 5, 1978) and I hope that you will be able to come to our wedding once we finally decide on a date. If you can't because you feel that it's too dangerous, I will understand and I won't hold it against you. But, I thought that I would just extend the invitation to you because you are my mom, and I do want my family to be there. I know that the last time I wrote to you, I complained about Remus because I didn't think we were ever going to take this next step but we finally did. It seems that I was being a bit too impatient, but considering the circumstances I think my attitude is a little understandable. Being in love…It's scary, Mama._

 _I can't imagine my life without him, and being in the middle of a wizarding war is nerve-wracking. Whenever he is gone on a mission for Dumbledore, I can't help but become a little frantic because I worry about him. Even before we were engaged, I worried for him so, so much. There isn't anything I can do to stop it, I'm afraid. Aside from telling you about my engagement, I have written to you for another reason._

Althea frowned at the letter and quickly crumbled the paper throwing it into the fireplace. She had so much that she wanted to tell her mom, but she just didn't know quite where to start. She sighed, staring at the crackling flames in the fireplace. It had been about two months since she had gotten engaged to Remus, and that was one of the first things that she wanted to tell her mom. She just didn't know how to mention it. Althea raked a hand through her hair, a frustrated sigh once again escaping her lips.

There was a lot that she didn't know how to tell her mom. But she couldn't seem to put it onto paper. Some of that stemmed from the fact that she didn't want to worry her mom; if she told her mom everything that was truly happening, it would only make her family sick with worry and it might make them want to come back. She couldn't let that happen. She needed to protect them. So, for now, it seemed that silence was her best option. She didn't like it, but she couldn't endanger her family. She refused to. She loved them too much to do that.

Although it was possible that they already knew what was happening. They were in America, but she was sure that they were keeping up-to-date on the events occurring in England. They were probably waiting to head home. She groaned, flopping back onto the couch feeling frustrated and exhausted. She shot off of the couch when she heard a knock on her door. Her heartbeat pounded loudly in her ears, and she clutched her wand tightly in her hand as she tip-toed toward the door.

She had learned very quickly, that one could never be too careful. When she had been with Gideon and Fabian, she thought that she had been safe in Muggle London. She thought that the Death Eaters wouldn't try anything, but oh how wrong she had been. It was from that moment on that she knew that nowhere was safe, except for perhaps that small little island that they had been vacationing on. The only one who knew about it was Dumbledore, and everyone knew that Voldemort wouldn't risk crossing him. Yet.

Althea peered through the peephole, and then smiled throwing the door open as her eyes fell on Lily. She looked around, expecting to see James but when she found no sight of him her brows furrowed in confusion. But, nonetheless she let Lily into her house after having Lily answer a question that only the real her would know the answer to.

"Where's your other half?" Althea questioned, shutting the door and locking it. Practically, she knew it wouldn't do much against magic but it made her feel just the slightest bit more safe.

"Auror training with Sirius," Lily answered with a roll of her eyes sitting on the couch. "What else would he be doing?" She huffed crossing her arms, "Apparently a date is too much to ask for these days."

"That's why you're so cross?" Althea asked incredulously, waving her wand. Tea cups floated from the cabinets, became filled with tea and then landed on the coffee table in front of Lily. "That seems a silly reason to be upset, doesn't it? You know considering the circumstances."

"You'd be upset if Remus wasn't making time for you!" Lily pouted.

"He isn't making time for me, though Lily. I think that's the point," Althea murmured, picking up the cup and taking a sip of the Earl Grey tea. Lily looked to her in confusion and a bittersweet smile made Althea's lips curl. "He doesn't have time for me, because a few days ago Dumbledore sent him somewhere with the Prewetts. Obviously, it bothers me but I know that whatever he is doing is more important. Stopping You-Know-Who is more important than being on a date with me, no matter how much I loathe not seeing Remus as often as I like." She set the cup back on the table. "We're at war, Lily. We all have to make sacrifices, and sacrificing some of the time I spend with my fiancé is one I'm willing to make. The harder we work to stop him, the sooner he will actually be stopped, and then everything will return to normal and I'll be able to spend as much time with Remus as I want to." She sent a pointed look Lily's way, "Apart from the full moon."

"I understand that, I do. But I can't help but feel that, we are all running on limited time," Lily confessed, green eyes watching Althea worriedly. "Pardon my language, but I feel like shit's going to hit the fan soon. I want to spend as much time with James as I can before that."

"Lily, perhaps you're worrying needlessly?" Althea tried. To be quite honest, however, she had the same feeling and concerns that her redheaded friend did. "Or perhaps, you're not. That's not the point. I don't know what I can tell you Lily, to ease your fears because I can tell you without a doubt that I share many of the same concerns. How can I not? Need I remind you, that we are in the midst of a wizarding war."

"And that's the point!" Lily shouted, her cheeks flushing red. "War is filled with uncertainties and there is no guarantee that any of us will make it out alive. If God forbid I am one of the casualties, I want to die not having any regrets." Her eyes sparkled with unshed tears and she wrapped her arms around her middle, as if trying to stop herself from falling apart. "Right now, I'm feeling nothing but regret. It feels like James and I are at a stalemate. It feels like our relationship isn't moving forward."

"What you're saying is, is that you want to marry James," Althea deduced smiling widely when Lily didn't deny it.

It was a little silly, Althea thought, that they were worrying about trivial matters like this when they were in the middle of a war and when their lives were endangered every day. But, at the same time it made all the sense in the world to her. She agreed with Lily, that when she died she didn't want to have any regrets and so that was why she didn't make fun of Lily. Because she felt the same way, and it would be a little hypocritical of her to do so.

"I'm scared," Lily whispered, resting her head on Althea's shoulders.

"It's okay to be scared," Althea assured her. "That's what makes us human."

The two girls fell silent. The silence didn't last for long, because it was just moments later that Lily asked hesitantly, "Do you know when you and Remus are going to get married?"

"I'm partial to a winter wedding, but we haven't discussed it. He's been gone a lot, doing things for Dumbledore so there hasn't really been any time," Althea answered with a shrug. Lily looked at her sympathetically and Althea waved off her concerns. "Remus knows when I would like it. We'll find time to talk about it, Lily, you don't have to worry." She sighed, "Speaking of weddings, I'm assuming you asked because you're already planning yours even though James hasn't proposed yet, correct?"

"You wouldn't be wrong," Lily replied sheepishly. "It's a when not if, situation. That's the way it is for you and Remus."

"Correct," Althea confirmed with a nod. She shifted away from Lily, grabbing her empty cup, "I have never really been that superstitious, but I am leaving everything up to fate now. There's nothing else I can do."

Lily rolled her eyes, "Never thought I'd see the day that Althea Morgan becomes a passive watcher in her own life."

"I'm not."

"You are and you know it. Don't be passive." Lily sighed, "I feel like I shouldn't be having this talk with you, because you should know better Althea. You are, seventeen-years-old for Merlin's sake. You want to get married to Remus, don't you? So, make it happen!"

"Shut up."

"No." Lily smiled deviously, "You're only saying that because you know that I'm right."

Althea nodded taking Lily's words into consideration. Some part of her had to admit that she knew her redheaded friend was right. She was being a little childish and a little meek, something that was out of character for the dark-haired girl. It wasn't like she could help it though. The war was leaving her feel uncertain about everything, even her own survival. She hadn't lied when she said to Lily that she was sharing the same fears. The only difference was, was that Althea wasn't too keen on voicing them.

There was a crack, and the two jumped whirling around but relaxed immediately when they saw that it was only Remus. Two more cracks followed in quick succession as James and Sirius Apparated in, and Althea looked at Lily who made no move to go to James. Her eyes darted toward the dark-haired boy, who looked slightly put-out and upset, obviously confused on why his girlfriend was making no move to embrace him. Shaking their troubles from her head, Althea moved toward Remus coiling her arms around his waist as his curled around her back, holding her close to him.

She inhaled deeply, nuzzling closer to him. The sound of his heartbeat pounded loudly in her ears, and the soothing constant rhythm of it, made her smile and relax. He was here with her, and for now he was safe and that was good enough for her. In the distance, she could hear Sirius making gagging noises and loudly complaining about her and Remus to James, but she paid it little to no attention. Right now, Sirius's antics weren't her focus, Remus was as corny and silly as it may sound. Althea smiled, tipping her head up to look in Remus's warm eyes that were bright with affection as he stared down at her.

"Is everything okay?" she asked, watching him closely.

"Yes," Remus confirmed, pressing his lips briefly to her temple. "Everything went fine, Thea. There were no mishaps, and because everything went according to plan, Dumbledore has given us the next few days off."

A smile appeared on her face, "Really?" He nodded and she hummed, "I'm glad. There are things that we need to talk about."

Remus made a sound of realization, "Wedding talk, right?" Althea nodded and he shook his head a fond look on his face. "I suppose I can make some time to talk about that," he teased, grinning widely when Althea scowled at him.

"Can you two, stop being so disgusting and cute? Thank you," Sirius snapped, popping the bubble that had surrounded them.

"Of course," Remus said formally. "However, you don't live here, Althea does. So I'd say if you don't like it, you can get out."

"Althea! You've been such a bad influence on Remus! He's getting sassy!" Sirius whined.

"Perhaps that is your fault, Sirius and not Althea's."

"It can't be! I'm an angel Remmy!"

"Really, Padfoot?"

"Prongs!"


	21. Chapter Twenty-One

**_August 7, 1978_**

Althea laid sprawled on the bed, flipping through a Muggle wedding magazine that Remus had managed to gain possession of. She had been more than pleased, that he had spent nearly every day at her apartment with her and that Dumbledore hadn't sent him on any more missions. It had caused her to relax, and it made her more than pleased because it meant that they could start planning the details of their wedding. Remus padded into the bedroom, tawny locks still disheveled and messy and lacking a shirt – not that Althea was going to complain – whilst carrying a tray of breakfast food.

"Breakfast in bed?" Althea raised her brows. "You spoil me, Remmy."

He smiled, setting the tray carefully in her lap before crawling into bed beside her. "You've been tense, lately, Thea. I've noticed, so I decided to do something to ease that." He stole a strawberry off of the plate, "Besides, I'm hungry too."

"The sentiment is appreciated," Althea informed him dryly, continuing to flick through the magazine in between small bites of the food that he had prepared. "Have you talked with James or Sirius, lately?"

"No," Remus shook his head. "They've been busy with Auror training, you know that. They haven't had much time for anything, much less Lily."

Althea winced, "She owled me?"

"No. She owled me," Remus corrected, his lips tugging down into a frown. "It surprised me too, Althea. I would think that she would want to talk to you, when it concerns her relationship with James. However, she mostly complained, and then asked my advice on how to effectively get revenge since she feels like he's ignoring her."

Althea sighed, "I tried to tell her that that's not the case. The war has just made things so hectic."

"It is a lesson that evidently didn't stick."

"Clearly," Althea snapped, flipping another page in the magazine. "We're thinking winter, right? For the wedding?"

"Yes, I believe that was the plan," Remus answered peering over her shoulder. "Unless of course, you'd rather do it in the spring when it isn't so cold."

Althea shook her head, "We can use magic, Remus. I'm sure that the cold is of no consequence to a winter wedding." She sat the magazine down in her lap, taking a sip of orange juice. "I've always loved winter and snow, so a winter wedding is perfect, don't you think?"

"Of course," Remus murmured, lips brushing against the exposed skin of her shoulder. "I think that red and gold should somehow be incorporated, otherwise there will be no end of grief from James and Sirius. Although, they are not solely the reason. I would like to somehow incorporate Gryffindor in to our wedding, since that was our House."

"I'm fine with that Remus," Althea assured him. "You don't have to be hesitant with giving your opinion on wedding details, you know. This is your wedding too."

"I'm aware," Remus answered sounding the slightest bit amused. "But weddings are a big thing for girls, aren't they?"

Althea shrugged, "I suppose. I was never one of those girls who spent hours planning out her wedding, when she was little. Actually, this is the first time in my life that I've ever considered wedding details."

Remus made a sound of acknowledgment, but didn't verbally answer, something that was fine with Althea. The quiet was welcome, because it allowed her to concentrate a little better. That didn't mean she didn't want to converse with Remus, she did. But she also recognized that heavy thoughts were weighing on his mind, so the lull in conversation was something that Remus needed more than she did. While he had told her that everything went fine concerning the mission that he did with Gideon and Fabian, she couldn't help but feel that he wasn't telling her the complete truth.

She didn't press for answers. When he was ready to tell her, he would, she knew that. And if he didn't, she knew that Dumbledore would have answers for her if she asked. That was only if she could get in contact with the elusive Hogwarts Headmaster, something that would be increasingly difficult as the new school term would be starting in a manner of days. As she had said many times over the summer, it was strange not heading back to Hogwarts. Over course, she was happy that she had graduated but that didn't take away how alien this feeling was to her right now. Usually, at this time she would be in Diagon Alley looking for her school books and school robes, with the Marauders and Lily. But now, she was at home looking through wedding magazines and she wouldn't be returning to Hogwarts for a long time. If ever. It was virtually unheard of for Hogwarts alumni to return to the school, but that didn't mean it had never happened before. It was just rare.

Althea sighed, finishing the toast and looked back down at the magazine. She wondered if she should deliver the invitations to the wedding to the professors in person. Would that even be proper? She dismissed the thought. It didn't matter if it was proper or not, some of the professors she would like to be able to call her acquaintances if not her friends. Maybe, she'd give the invitations to Dumbledore, of course knowing the Headmaster he'd somehow try to find a way for her to deliver them herself.

Remus shifted at her side, "Thea, are you aware that James has plans to propose to Lily soon?"

"Really?" She asked feeling gleeful. "How do you know? And what brought this on?"

"James told me because he was seeking advice on how to propose, after seeing me propose to you," Remus told her. "It wasn't like he could ask Sirius for advice, Thea. I brought up this subject because I wondered what is going to happen after, to us and them. I'm also curious about the guest list, I suppose. It wouldn't be wise, to have such a big wedding, considering the circumstances."

Althea frowned. "I suppose you're right," she conceded. "Then, who would we invite? Obviously, Lily, James, and Sirius. Dumbledore, too probably."

"Not Peter?" Remus asked, with a small frown.

The frown on Althea's face deepened, and she shook her head. "I know that he's your friend, Remmy, but something about him rubs me the wrong way and makes me uncomfortable. If you really want him there, I won't protest, but I would prefer if he wouldn't be there."

Remus sighed, "It's fine Althea. James and Sirius are going to be there, so I suppose there is no need for Peter to be there as well. Besides, he'd end up eating all of the food while we are preoccupied." That drew a smile to Althea's face and he nuzzled at her neck, pleased that he had made her relax. "Lily, James, Sirius, Dumbledore, and perhaps our parents."

"Of course, our parents are coming," Althea told Remus. "Well, your parents. Mine, I believe will be staying safely in America with my siblings." Althea glanced at Remus, "James and Sirius will be able to come, right? Their Auror training won't interfere, will it?"

"I'm sure it won't, however we do still need to decide on a date," he reminded her.

Althea nodded and the two lapsed into silence once more. Talking about mundane things like weddings was odd, given that the wizarding world was filled with tension and danger, but Althea didn't find it as odd as perhaps she would have, if she wasn't the one getting married. It was illogical to be contemplating marriage, but at the same it wasn't. They didn't know if they would live to see the next day, and it made all the sense in the world to be with your partner in every way that you could when your life was filled with uncertainties. Althea shook off the thoughts. It wasn't right for her to dwell on them now, and there was no use in focusing on the dire circumstances surrounding them.

She sighed, curling into Remus her eyes still roving the pages of the magazine. None of the dresses were sticking out to her, and it was a thought that caused her some irritation. Althea sighed, flipping another one of the pages while Remus's fingers idly stroked her upper arm as they laid back in bed.

"How long until Dumbledore asks you to go on another mission?" Althea asked.

"I don't know," Remus shrugged. "Things are not progressing as well in the other countries as Dumbledore had hoped, and the werewolves are not being as amicable as one would wish. It would perhaps, be more dangerous for me if I were to go back on a mission, but that is up to the discretion of Dumbledore. He's the only one who has any sort of strategy when it comes to defeating You-Know-Who."

"Yeah," Althea smiled wryly, "because James and Sirius, would charge headfirst into a battle and likely get killed." She sighed, "Although that thought isn't one that I'm all too willing to entertain."

"I agree." A pause and then, "Do you know if Dumbledore will be sending you on missions any time soon?"

"No. In fact, he hasn't had me or Lily do too much. It's probably because we are at risk more than the rest of you, since as far as anyone is concerned we're both Muggle-borns." Althea smiled, "Although, if word got out I was a half-blood, or a little bit more than that, but that is neither here nor there I suppose. Perhaps, because of Allegra Malfoy they already know." Althea shrugged, "In the end, it doesn't matter, does it? I think Dumbledore knows that I wouldn't be of much use."

"That is a lie, and you know it. You were exceptional at Hogwarts, and he'd be a fool to not utilize your skills," Remus scolded her gently but his tone lacked any real bite. "I'm a half-blood as well, Althea. That is not the reason that Dumbledore isn't having you help."

"It doesn't matter," Althea managed a smile. "I'm not cut out for war. Not like the rest of you are."

"Althea," it came out as a sigh.

She just smiled, and quickly changed the subject, "You know, if I'm picking out wedding dresses, you probably shouldn't be here."

Remus quirked a brow, understanding what she was trying to do but not fighting her on it. "Don't you want me here?" he teased, a smirk pulling at his lips.

She smiled, relaxing once registered that he wasn't going to press the subject. "Hm…"

Remus pushed her down onto the bed, the tray falling from her lap and clattering onto the floor. Her smile widened and she giggled a little but it was quickly swallowed by his mouth as he claimed her lips with his. The magazine laid forgotten on her lap as he hovered over her. Althea wound her arms around Remus's neck, pulling him closer to her.

She wished that every day could be like this.


	22. Chapter Twenty-Two

**_August 12, 1978_**

 ****It was a little less than a week later when the euphoric peace that had surrounded them, shattered. Dumbledore had come by and announced that he was sending them both on a mission – separate missions, of course – and they had been told that they had to leave immediately. Althea had wanted to protest, but she didn't because she knew that no matter how much time she wanted to spend with Remus, stopping Voldemort was more important. Althea shivered, a scowl crossing her face as she eyed the Parisian streets. Dumbledore had sent her to Paris, France because he was worried that Voldemort would try to gain the support of French pureblood wizards, who held the same blood purity values as the ones from Britain. So far, from what she had seen that didn't seem to be the case.

She had only been in Paris for about two days though, so it wasn't enough time for her to make any sort of good judgment. Right now, her thoughts held some foundation but not enough to make it concrete. She wrapped her arms around her middle, keen eyes roving around Muggle Paris. Althea thought that it was strange to see the wizards and witches, dressed in their regular clothing, wandering around interspersed with the Muggles. The crowds flowed seamlessly comprised of Muggles and wizards, and it was strange she thought. Although, upon looking closer she realized that maybe the Muggles didn't know that they were surrounded by people who could kill them with a flick of a wand, because the Parisian wizards and witches weren't dressed as formally as the ones from England.

Their clothes were decidedly much more normal and Muggle-like in fashion, so it was likely that the actual Muggles just thought that they were eccentric dressers. A slim, blonde girl slipped through the crowds unnoticed by most but Althea's eyes caught sight of her. She was dressed like the other witches in the street, although her clothing was much more edgy. She was wearing a dark charcoal long-sleeved blouse tucked into a black leather pleated mini-skirt, and around her neck loosely hung a dark blue tie with the Beauxbatons crest on it and Althea's eyes widened.

Shouldn't this girl be in school?

Moving from her hiding place, Althea shadowed the girl. It was evident that the girl didn't realize that she was being followed. She probably didn't notice because she was in a hurry to get somewhere, and Althea was keen on finding out where that was. She doubted that the girl would be involved in any sort of Dark Magic, because she doubted that Voldemort's reach extended into France but she couldn't be too careful.

The girl slipped into an alley, and Althea almost lost sight of her. Her footsteps paused as the girl walked up to a small house, out of the way of the chaos in the streets. It was situated comfortably between two much larger and much skinnier buildings, making it seem like it was out of place. The girl bounded up the steps onto the porch, knocking rapidly on the door until it swung open revealing a boy around her age with dark hair and dark eyes, and a scowl on his face that quickly evaporated when he caught sight of the girl.

The two conversed quietly in French, but they spoke so fast that Althea wasn't able to make out a word of what they were saying. Whatever the girl was saying evidently appeased the boy, as the tightness around his eyes eased and he bent down pressing a kiss to her cheek, whispering something that made the blonde flush. Althea smirked, backing away but since she wasn't paying attention to where she was going she knocked into something in the alley. The boy tensed and the girl whirled around, panic crossing her face which turned into confusion when she caught sight of Althea. Just as quickly though the panic was back on her face, tinged with anger. Althea raised her hands to show that she had nothing in her hands – like a wand – but it didn't make the girl relax. She bounded off of the steps and hurried toward Althea, her chest rising and falling angrily and her eyes filled with unshed tears.

"Who are you? Did my family send you?" The girl asked and Althea's eyes widened.

"No. I'm not even quite sure who you are," Althea answered, trying to smile.

The girl's eyes narrowed, "You're British?" She crossed her arms over her chest, "What are you doing here?"

"That is quite frankly none of your business," Althea snapped, her guard rising as she eyed the blonde Beauxbatons student. "Aren't you supposed to be in school at Beauxbatons?"

"School won't start without me," the girl answered confidently. She eyed Althea distrustfully for a few more moments before extending a hand. "Madeline Rousseau at your service."

"Rousseau." Althea whispered. "You're a pureblood." Madeline flinched, but jerkily nodded and Althea's eyes darted to the boy standing on the porch watching them with trepidation. "And he's not. He's a Muggle." She turned back to the blonde, "But he knows exactly what you are, doesn't he? Because you told him."

"I love him," Madeline admitted quietly, glancing over her shoulder. "Luc, he loves me too but my family doesn't believe that. Actually, to be fair, they don't even know that I'm seeing Luc because he's a Muggle and God forbid I ruin my family's pureblood reputation."

"I won't tell anyone," Althea murmured her voice soft, "because right now there's nothing more dangerous than a Muggle being associated with a pureblood."

Madeline flinched at the unintended verbal blow, and she sighed her shoulders hunching. "You know then. About vol de mort, 'flight of death'…I believe in Britain he's called You-Know-Who."

"His reach extends into France then."

Madeline nodded, "He's making nice with families like my own. He's seeking to wage an all-out war against purebloods and anyone who opposes blood purity even Muggles, which many consider to be a threat. My family is of course no exception to what is happening, and many of them are on You-Know-Who's side." Her voice softer she whispered, "But not me. I'm just trying to protect Luc."

"If you want to protect Luc, you need to get him out of the country. Out of Europe," Althea told her and Madeline's eyes widened. "The safest place for him right now is likely America since it's an ocean away from You-Know-Who's reach." Althea's eyes moved to Luc who was still watching them. "Take him and run. That's the only thing that you can do for now. Although, I would recommend discussing it with him."

"Of course, I would," Madeline sounded offended. "I wouldn't take away his free will.' She glanced at Luc and then looked back at Althea. "Is it really that bad?"

"Not quite yet, but soon it will be. And it's better if you aren't here when everything happens."

"And you?" Madeline asked a wry smile curling her lips. "You can't be any older than I am."

"I can't abandon my family or my fiancé. My parents and siblings are in America. Seek refuge with them." Madeline nodded and Althea continued, "I don't know where they live but you can contact the Magical Congress of the United States to find them, and when you do tell them that Althea sent you."

"Thank you." Madeline turned around to walk back to Luc. "You should get out too, while you can. Take your own advice."

Althea just watched her go a bitter smile appearing on her youthful features. As much as she would to flee, she couldn't because she wasn't a coward and she also couldn't abandon Remus, and Remus wouldn't abandon his friends. Turning on her heel Althea Apparated to the hotel that she had taken residence in, and began digging through the files that Dumbledore had given her. Her old Headmaster was nothing if not thorough and organized.

Finding a file labelled Rousseau, Althea grabbed it and hurriedly began reading through the family history and their biographies. The Rousseau family, was a prestigious French pureblood family and if Althea could equate them to any pureblood in Great Britain, it would undoubtedly be the Malfoys. They could trace back their pureblood lineage almost as far as the Malfoy's could, and had managed to keep their blood pure through all of the generations except it seemed when it came to Madeline. Fortunately for the Rousseau family, Madeline wasn't their only heir; she had three younger brothers, and an older sister who had already married into a prestigious Italian pureblood family. Perhaps that was why Voldemort was seeking to ally with the Rousseau family. If all of the children married like Madeline's sister had, he could exploit their connections and gain allies in more pureblood families from other countries.

It was a smart strategy, and one that made her nervous. As far as she knew, the Order of the Phoenix didn't have sort of strategies – or allies – like that. Maybe they did, but it wasn't like Althea was all that sure. She was often kept out of the loop on things when it concerned the Order of the Phoenix, for reasons that she didn't know. It made her feel like none of them trusted her, but she knew that wasn't the case – Lily, James, Sirius, Gideon, Fabian, and Remus all trusted her and she knew that McGonagall and Dumbledore did too, however she still couldn't fathom why it seemed that some things were being hidden from her.

Althea flipped through the rest of the file on the Rousseau family, deducing that Madeline wasn't on good terms with them. In many ways, the Rousseau girl that she had just met, reminded her of Sirius. They both came from influential pureblood families and they both rebelled against the values that their family had tried to instill within them. Madeline fell in love with a Muggle, while Sirius was blasted off of his family tree and was a Gryffindor. Arguably, one could say that was his only crime – he had not been a Slytherin. But, then his family learned that he didn't share the same thoughts that they did on Muggles and that was all it took for him to be disowned. It was sad really, because Sirius and Madeline had done nothing wrong at least on a moral standpoint; it was their families that were in the wrong.

Althea tucked the loose sheets of paper into the file and closed it, stuffing it into the desk in the hotel room. She had a lot of investigating to do, and she felt like this job was going to be the most difficult one that Dumbledore had given her yet.

She didn't know when she'd be able to return home. To Remus.


	23. Chapter Twenty-Three

**_October 17, 1978_**

A little over two months had passed since Althea had encountered Madeline Rousseau, and she was pleased that Madeline and her Muggle lover had fled the country, much to the ire of the other purebloods in the area. Unlike in Britain, where everything concerning Voldemort was much more blatant, here everything else was much subtler. There were less attacks on Muggles and when there were attacks they were subtle and carried out under the darkness of night, with no one the wiser until the morning when things were revealed. As far as attacks on Muggle-borns and half-bloods went, things were quiet something that both made Althea relax and tense. Over the past month, she had been sending reports to Dumbledore, telling him of everything going on and waiting for further instructions but he had yet to answer any of her letters.

Autumn had set in with a chill, and a light frost covered the ground as Althea stepped out of her hotel and into the streets of Paris. Unlike before, the streets weren't bustling with activity. They were still busy, there was no doubt about it, but most of the inhabitants outside were not Muggles but rather pureblood witches and wizards. There were still Muggles and Muggle-borns here and there but their appearances were becoming more rare. It was pathetic that Voldemort's reach was even extending to France, and Althea wondered how Dumbledore planned on stopping it. A jet of red light shot into the street and one of the purebloods crumpled to the ground, her eyes glazed as she stared in front of her. A Stunning spell, Althea realized.

Then it was chaos.

Bangs assaulted her ears as she ducked into an alley, drawing her own wand. The flashes of light and sounds of screams disoriented her and Althea took a deep steadying breath before leaping into the fray. She wasn't sure what was going on or what was happening but she couldn't sit by and do nothing. If nothing else she could get the Muggles and Muggle-borns to safety. As her eyes darted around the frantic crowd and the battling wizards, she could see that people were already doing her job for her. In fact, the only ones that seemed to be being attacked were the purebloods. The wall by Althea's head started to crumble, and she quickly flicked her wand, causing the wall to repair itself. A jet of green light headed toward her and Althea dove out of the way.

Rocks bit into her skin and she rolled onto her side briefly winded, before springing back to her feet. A large pureblood witch to her right let out a scream, before crumpling to the ground and Althea's face paled when she heard the distinct sound of snapping bones. Her hand began to shake, and she quickly sent a spell toward the person who had injured the witch. Only the purebloods were being attacked, so she knew it had to be witches or wizards that were Pro-Muggle. They had good intentions, she suspected but this wasn't the right way to go about it. This would only make things worse.

The ground in front of her exploded and heat and rubble enveloped her. Stones cut into her cheeks and through her clothes, drawing blood and Althea hissed. Then she heard the cracks of people Disapparating and Althea was left alone with the attackers.

"What the bloody hell," Althea growled glaring at the wizards and witches that were grouping back together and staring at her, distrust and anger in their eyes. "I get that you must be Pro-Muggle, but attacking purebloods isn't the answer!"

"You know nothing about zis world," A man with a heavy French accent growled. "You understand nothing."

"I understand more than you think."

"Is that so?" A light feminine voice asked softly. "How, pray tell would you know what is happening?"

"Because the same prejudice is happening in Britain, but we're more subtle about trying to solve the problem and we don't try to make more," Althea snapped. "What did you hope this would accomplish? It will only turn more purebloods toward You-Know-Who. So great job!"

"Our apologies," the same feminine voice said. "But you do not live here. Things are much different here than in Britain. You do not fully understand what we are going through."

"That doesn't matter. This isn't truly going to help, your cause though," Althea pointed out trying to reign in her temper. "This was perhaps the stupidest thing that you could have done."

"It will bring attention to our cause which is all that we want," the woman said. "We are desperate and do not deserve your judgment."

"Celine," a higher-pitched, voice reprimanded the woman who had spoken. The voice then addressed Althea, "Our apologies. The oppression toward Muggles, Muggle-borns and half-bloods may be worse in Britain than in here, but that does not me it isn't happening and unlike Britain we do not have anyone trying to stop it. We are growing desperate and when people are desperate we do crazy, illogical things. I will apologize for our actions but I cannot say that I fully regret them."

Althea sighed, "I'm only saying that this isn't helping your cause. I understand desperation but I cannot understand or condone your actions."

"That is fine, we weren't expecting you to," Celine cut in.

The higher voice sighed and then said, "My name is Aurelie, and it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance although I wish it was under better circumstances." The owner of the voice, a tiny minute figure standing at about five feet stepped forward, and Althea was stunned by her icy blue eyes as she lowered the hood of her silver cloak. The girl had a sort of ethereal beauty to her, and a flush rose to Althea's cheeks. "Perhaps you would like to come with us, and we can talk in a much quieter place? Away from prying eyes."

"I sense that I do not have a choice."

Aurelie smiled, "You are correct."

Althea sighed, anger rising and settling in her chest but she didn't argue or fight even though all of her instincts were screaming at her to. Instead she ignored the voices telling her to fight and get away, and stepped toward Aurelie taking her arm so they could Apparate. Side-apparition was a weird thing, Althea thought as the streets of Paris disappeared from her eyesight and her insides felt like she was being crushed and then just as suddenly as it had happened it was done. Althea blinked, slowly absorbing her surroundings.

They were surrounded by tall towering trees, and in the distance, there was a clearing in which lay a meadow. Somewhere behind her, Althea could hear a babbling brook and in the trees, she could recognize the calls of birds. There was little light being let into the forest, but even with the shadows it didn't have an eerie feel. Instead, it was calming and soothing. Aurelie tugged on Althea's wrist, drawing her attention away from her surroundings and to the people with her.

"Welcome to our home," Aurelie murmured, leading Althea into the clearing.

Althea gaped a little as she beheld their home. The meadow stretched far and wide, and the farther she looked the more houses that she could see. A little stream ran through the meadow before taking a sharp left and diverting into the forest. The houses were wooden and rustic looking, but that only made it appear more enchanting and like something out of a fantasy number.

"This grove is something that we will protect with our lives," Aurelie told Althea. "That is why we attacked them because if they get too cocky, they will eventually encroach on our lives and we cannot have that happen. This is the one safe haven for Muggles and Muggle-borns, like Celine."

"While that is understandable, you've only drawn their attention. It would have been better if you had remained hidden in the shadows, unknown to everyone. Now they will be digging into where the Muggles and Muggle-borns are going," Althea told them firmly. "You made a mistake doing what you did. You should have remained anonymous."

It was annoying how obstinate they were being, and how intent they seemed on not recognizing the faults that they had made. Behind her, Althea heard several noises of dissent but she dismissed them focusing her attention entirely on Aurelie.

"We shall agree to disagree then," Aurelie returned mildly.

"Of course. Now if that is all, I must be going." And before any of them could argue or try to stop her, Althea spun on her heel and Disapparated.

Althea appeared into her hotel room. After getting her bearings, Althea headed over to the desk grabbing a piece of parchment. She dipped her pen in an inkwell and set about, writing a letter for Dumbledore about the people that she had just met. Now more than ever she knew that she couldn't go home. She still had a lot to discover, and a lot more to do to help out the Order.


	24. Chapter Twenty-Four

**_October 20, 1978_**

It had only two days later that Althea ran into Aurelie once again. Althea was sitting in her hotel room reflecting on that visit. She had known that Aurelie and those that had been with her were weird, but she had no idea how weird until her latest encounter. Although, to be quite honest they weren't as weird as they seemed considering they lived in France. Aurelie had told her yesterday, that most of the people with her were half-Veela, and Althea realized that made sense as to why they were so guarded and why they had been so aggressive. Maybe, they could be potential allies for the Order of the Phoenix. From what she had learned so far of them, they seemed to want everyone who could be a threat to stay away and that meant the purebloods who were on Voldemort's side. Perhaps, there could be a way to convince them to join with the Order.

They needed every advantage that they could get, and while Aurelie and Althea weren't close, it didn't seem like the other girl hated her which was something that Althea could attempt to take advantage of. Immediately a sick feeling overcame her, and she dismissed the thought. Althea wasn't the type to manipulate people and to use them. If she was going to get Aurelie and the others on the Order's side, she needed to do it honestly and if they said no, she couldn't try to manipulate or force them into it. Anything else might drive them right into Voldemort's arms.

An owl flew in through the open window, landing on the desk. Delicately, Althea untied the roll of parchment from the owl's leg. She rubbed at the feathers on the owl's chest and then unrolled the paper, her eyes falling on the familiar loopy scrawl of Remus.

 _Thea,_

 _Dumbledore told me to tell you that it's urgent you come back to Britain, right away. He doesn't think it's safe in France anymore, even though, as far as I know, your reports have been dull and boring. He fears that something bad is going to happen soon and he doesn't want you to be in the crossfire. As a matter of fact, neither do I. He also asked me to tell you that, your mission isn't that important and there is the possibility it can be continued at a later date but you need to get out now._

 _Come home and be careful. Dumbledore wants you back within an hour of receiving this missive._

\- _Remus_

Althea huffed. One of the rare times that she gets a letter from Remus, and of course it has to do with Order business. She shouldn't have expected anything less, really, but she couldn't help herself from foolishly hoping that this time it would be different.

"Well, I suppose, I must go," Althea mumbled, rising to her feet.

She moved around the room slowly packing up her things by hand. It would be far easier to use a wand, but she needed something to occupy her hands and her thoughts. There was a reason that Dumbledore wanted her back so soon and so urgently, but she just didn't know why. If something big was going to happen in France, surely, she would have heard about it by now. Gossip travelled fast, and while she had no friends she was a skilled eavesdropper, so it was strange. But the handwriting was Remus's, and so was the owl.

Althea sighed, grabbing her duffel bag and resting the strap on her shoulder. She'd Apparate to Lily and James's, and then she would head to her apartment. Death Eaters had no idea where Lily and James resided, so if this was some ploy by Voldemort, she would know before falling right into it. Spinning on her heel, Althea Apparated right into James and Lily's living room. The redhead let out a startled shriek, at Althea's sudden appearance and the taller girl smiled a bit sheepishly, as James spluttered from where he was sitting on the couch beside Lily.

"What the bloody hell do you want, Althea?" James grumbled, a pout appearing on his face as Lily moved away from him and approached her.

"I got a letter from Remus, that Dumbledore needed to see me urgently. But it struck me as a little suspicious so I thought that I would come here," Althea answered. "A spell that replicates handwriting isn't too difficult to cast, and typically when it concerns my mission, Dumbledore would be the one to write me. Not Remus on behalf of Dumbledore."

Lily hummed, worry glittering in her green eyes. "It does sound suspicious, doesn't it? Was Remus's owl used?"

"Mm-hm," Althea hummed. "That's why I thought I would come here, rather than go straight home just in case it is a trap."

"James, contact Sirius. See if he's seen Remus." Lily told the dark-haired boy, not looking away from Althea. "I'll make you some tea, Thea. And then you can tell me how wonderful France was."

With a crack James Disapparated, leaving Lily and Althea alone in the tiny house. The two headed into the kitchen, where Lily set about making the tea. Althea leaned against the island, her arms crossed over her chest. She couldn't help but wonder if perhaps she was being a little over-cautious, but then quickly decided that considering the circumstances that no such thing existed. Lily sat a cup of Oolong tea in front of her and Althea gratefully took a sip of it, her eyes watching Lily carefully as the redhead fixed another cup of tea.

The two were quiet for a few more moments before Lily decided to break the silence. "How was France?"

"Paris is a beautiful city, although regretfully, I didn't see much of it," Althea answered, sipping delicately at the tea. "I think I would have enjoyed it more if I wasn't doing a mission for Dumbledore, but since I was, I couldn't enjoy it to its fullest extent. I'd like to think, that perhaps, when this war is over and assuming we all survive, that all of us could take a trip there."

Lily smiled, "That'd be a lot of fun."

"I thought so," Althea agreed. "Of course, we'd all have to learn French."

"James and Sirius already know it," Lily informed her. Althea raised a brow, so Lily elaborated, "It's because they are purebloods. They are supposed to know the romantic languages, like Latin, French, Italian, and Spanish."

"Hm, then I suppose only you and I would need to learn French," Althea said.

"Indeed, but it shouldn't be too hard for us. We were the smartest witches in our year at Hogwarts."

The conversation dissolved into more lighthearted talk. Topics ranged from upcoming weddings in the Order, discussing the properties and uses of a unicorn's horn, and books – both Muggle and wizard – before the conversation once again inevitably returned to the subject of weddings. Ideally, Althea would have loved to say that her wedding with Remus was nearly ready, but that was not the case. The mission that Dumbledore had sent her on had taken up much of her time and since she was in a different country, discussing wedding details with Remus wasn't exactly the easiest thing to do. She still wanted to get married in November or December, when there was fresh snow on the ground, but now she wasn't sure if that was going to be possible.

"You'll figure it out, Thea," Lily told her with a roll of her eyes. "Let's be honest, the chances of the wedding not happening this year are low, wouldn't you say? I know for a fact that Remus is just as eager to get married as you are."

"Really," Althea smiled softly.

"Really." Lily punctuated her statement with a nod. "We're witches, so it won't be that hard to come up with a dress and to get decorations ready. The only thing you really need to focus on, are your vows."

Althea flushed, "So are you saying that you'd like to be the wedding planner?"

"Well if you insist," Lily said airily, a bright smile on her face. She sobered, "On a more serious note, that's exactly what I'm trying to say. I just want to see my two best friends happy with each other."

"Thank you, Lily."

"No problem, now finish your tea and we'll go back to the room to wait for James."

It wasn't long before James returned with Sirius in tow, and the grave expressions on their faces made Althea nervous. Her stomach twisted uncomfortably, and she knew that her skin was pale and her eyes were wide with horror. It was odd seeing the grave, almost horrified expressions on their faces because typically James and Sirius were such jovial, happy-go-lucky people. Surely, if they had any sort of good news, they wouldn't be wearing expressions such as these. If they had good news, they'd be smiling and at ease. Something had happened, Althea just knew it.

"We went over to your apartment," James said, walking over to Lily and slinging an arm over her shoulder, tucking her against his side. In his other hand, he seemed to be absentmindedly twirling his wand. "The place was trashed, Thea. Holes in the wall, scorch marks, and furniture overturned. It looked bad."

Her hands started to shake and she turned panicked eyes over to Sirius who nodded somberly, confirming James's words. "What about Remus?" she asked hoarsely, her hands clenching into fists in a pitiful bid to stop them from shaking.

"We didn't find any sign of him," Sirius answered instead of James. "His clothes were in your bedroom, and his stuff could still be found inside the apartment but we didn't see him."

"So, now what?" Lily asked, seeing that Althea was in no state of mind to pursue the subject.

"We alert Dumbledore," James decided, voice grave. He looked at Althea a gleam of sadness and pity in his eyes, "I'm sorry, Thea."

Althea closed her eyes, an errant tear slipping down her cheek and falling to the floor. She knew what those words meant, she wasn't stupid. James didn't think that they were going to find Remus alive. She had to admit that the chances of actually finding him alive were small, since everyone that the Death Eaters abducted died, but she wasn't going to believe that Remus was already dead. He was a fighter, and so he had to be alive. There was no other outcome that she was going to accept.

Her eyes darted over the features of her friends, hating the looks of pity that they were giving her and she hated seeing the sadness in their eyes. She hated that they were seemingly just giving up on Remus. Did their friendship with him mean so little to them?

"I'm going home."

"Thea, maybe that isn't the best idea," Lily tried, stepping toward her with an arm extended but Althea wrenched away from her, her eyes lighting up with anger and the redhead paused in her steps.

"I said that I'm going home, and I am." Althea grabbed her bags off the floor, "I'll see you guys later."

With that she Disapparated, leaving her friends staring after her in shock. For now, she decided once she was in her apartment, she would clean and regroup but then she'd be finding Remus. Althea gripped her wand tightly in her hand, and steeled herself as she looked around at the ruins of what had once been her spotless apartment. She'd find Remus and she'd make the Death Eaters pay, that was for certain.


	25. Chapter Twenty-Five

**_October 21, 1978_**

Groggily, Remus peeled his eyes open. His head pulsed in time with his heartbeat and he groaned, hunching over, his eyes squeezing shut again. His muscles ached, and he was sore all over. The Death Eaters had likely used an Unforgiveable Curse on him; nothing else should or could leave him hurting this badly. The Cruciatus Curse was the only thing that it could be, he immediately decided groaning in pain as his lungs and ribs protested every breath that he took. He was glad that Althea hadn't come back when they had forged the letter, even though in the end it had resulted in more torture for him courtesy of Bellatrix Lestrange. She was safe, and that was all that mattered. He could deal with this torture because he knew that she was safe.

The dank, musty air of the cell irritated his sensitive nose and Remus coughed, pressing a hand to his ribs as they screamed in pain. The door to the cell he was in swung open and in waltzed Bellatrix Lestrange followed closely by Lucius Malfoy, someone who had graduated from Hogwarts only a year or two after Remus and the Marauders had started. Remus didn't know much about the Malfoy boy, save that he was a Malfoy, was married to Narcissa – Sirius's cousin – and was a Death Eater. Malfoy was close with Yaxley – the boy who had attacked Althea when they were still in Hogwarts – and Snape, which made sense since the three of them were Death Eaters. Well, Yaxley and Lucius were known Death Eaters; Snape was just a suspected Death Eater.

"Are you going to agree to contact your girlfriend now?" Bellatrix asked, impatience in her voice and a sneer on her angular face. Her wild, frizzy hair, gave her a crazy look. Remus didn't answer. "Mutt!" She snapped, drawing her wand.

"Patience Bella," Lucius told her, laying a hand on her arm. "He is a mongrel, it will take him sometime to comprehend the words that we are saying."

Bellatrix snickered, "Perhaps. But he should know to answer promptly, when being questioned by his superiors."

Remus barely fought the urge to roll his eyes, knowing that if he did whatever punishment he might receive would be worse. "I'm not going to contact Althea," he told them, his voice raspy. "It's hard to reach her, you must understand, since she is no longer in the country."

Bellatrix's eyes narrowed and even Lucius looked interested. "Then, where is she?"

"Mm, somewhere in Romania, I do believe," Remus mumbled lying through his teeth. "I'm not quite sure, Dumbledore has been sending her to many places, without my knowing. I think she talked about possibly heading to Romania though."

Ordinarily, Remus wasn't one to lie, but here he had no choice but to lie. He was doing it to protect Althea, while also trying to keep himself alive. A challenging task when surrounded by crazy Death Eaters. Bellatrix and Lucius said nothing further to Remus before exiting the room, in the same manner in which they had come in. Remus sagged against the stone wall behind him, his face pinched with pain as he tried to breathe. He had bought Althea and himself some time, but he didn't know how much.

Dammit. He groaned. He needed to find a way out of here, but it wasn't looking likely. The spells on this place were strong and there were who-knows how many Death Eaters in the buildings itself. Bloody hell, Voldemort himself, might even be here and trying to escape would be like signing his own death warrant. If he wanted to escape, he needed to have a plan. He needed to be methodical – he couldn't rush. Rushing would only make things go horribly wrong. Remus huffed out a breath, his hand going to his trousers where his wand still sat hidden in one of his pockets.

Stupid fools hadn't even bothered to check and make sure that his wand wasn't with him. At least now he'd have a bit of an advantage. He huffed out another sigh; but he couldn't risk escaping yet. He needed a plan.

* * *

Of all the things that Dumbledore had expected when heading into his office that night, after an exhausting day trying to stop the Slytherins from cursing or hexing Muggle-born students, he could quite honestly say that an irate Althea Morgan standing in his office wasn't one of them. He, had of course, known that Remus was missing and so her visit really shouldn't have been a surprise, but it was because he hadn't been expecting her back from France this soon. Not after hearing her latest report about Aurelie the half-Veela and her clan of fellow witches and wizards that also happened to be half-Veela. In retrospect, perhaps he should not have underestimated her feelings for Remus or the sneakiness of Death Eaters.

"Good evening Ms. Morgan," Dumbledore greeted, his eyes twinkling as he stared at the former Hogwarts pupil. "I presume, I know why you are here but in case my assumptions are wrong please do enlighten me."

Her strained smile, tightened and her eyes narrowed. "Remus is missing."

"Yes, I am aware of that fact Miss Morgan. However, I do not know what you expect me to do. While Voldemort is afraid of me, he soon won't be any longer, and it would be stupid of me to try to go after him just because one Remus Lupin is missing," Dumbledore told her, his voice holding nothing but pleasantness in it. Even still it made Althea bristle and clench her fists, an act which did not go unnoticed by the Headmaster. "That's not to say the Order won't try to find him, Althea. But these things take time. We need a plan, don't you think? Otherwise we could end up making things worse."

"I agree with that, but," Althea fumbled looking lost for words. She flushed then, ducking her head. "I'm just worried about him."

"I'm sure you are, and there is nothing wrong with that since he is your fiancé after all." Dumbledore held up his hands placatingly, "Leave everything to me Althea. Remus will be returned shortly, I'm sure of it."

Gritting her teeth, she nodded. Dumbledore eyed her for a few moments, doubting that she fully trusted in his words but eventually nodded, giving her a pleasant, understanding smile. She had really changed a lot in the short time since she had graduated from Hogwarts. Althea Morgan was no longer the shy, mousy, introverted girl that he used to see wandering the halls of Hogwarts or sitting in a library. She was more outspoken, braver, and her love for Remus could rival James's love for Lily – an impressive feat in and of itself, Dumbledore took care to note. She had really grown into her skin, and had truly become what a Gryffindor was to embody. He knew that she had her faults, but she hid them well, and when the time came she also acknowledged and learned from them. Becoming friends with the Marauders and Lily, had done her a lot of good.

"Then, I'll go. Thank you for your time," Althea said, stepping toward the fireplace so she could use the Floo Network.

"Floo to the Leaky Cauldron and then Apparate home," Dumbledore advised her his voice grave, "because you never know who could be watching."

Althea's eyes lit up with understanding and then she was gone in a flash of green light. Dumbledore sighed, wearily closing his eyes. It seemed that tonight he would have no rest. He had a werewolf that he needed to find.


	26. Chapter Twenty-Six

**_November 5, 1978_**

Two weeks had passed since her encounter – it couldn't be called a confrontation – with Dumbledore at Hogwarts, and since then Remus still hadn't been found. It was making her antsy and nervous, but Althea knew that Dumbledore and the Order were trying their best to find him. It just seemed like the Death Eaters, this time around, had been more crafty than any of them had anticipated. Althea fiddled with the ring on her left hand, staring unseeingly at the yard in front of the house James and Lily were sharing. Sirius had come by to her apartment one day and told her that it was no longer safe for her to live there, so she had taken up residence with James and Lily, which she was now regretting. She loved Lily like a sister, and she was happy that Lily and James were together. But seeing them every day and being so in love made her miss Remus even more and made her worry even more for him than she already did.

Lily and James didn't understand just how worried she was or how much seeing them together made her feel just a little bit jealous. They were oblivious to it all. She couldn't blame them for being so in love because that was how her and Remus were as well. It just hurt. The door opened and Lily stumbled in a bag of groceries from the Muggle supermarket piled in her arms. Behind her, came James, his face flushed as he brought in even more groceries. Althea raised a brow, watching them curiously as they went into the kitchen.

"What's all of the food for?" Althea asked curiously, tucking a strand of hair behind her ears.

"For when Remus comes back of course, and we know he will be found," Lily chirped. The cheery sound of her voice grated on Althea's nerves but she plastered on a smile for the redhead who was staring at her with a soft look in her eyes. "And well, Thanksgiving is coming up too, Thea. We have to celebrate that!"

"I suppose," Althea hummed.

"Don't be a Debbie Downer," James chastised her. Then he turned to Lily, "That was the correct Muggle phrase, wasn't it?"

"Yes, it was," Lily cooed, stretching up on her tiptoes to press a light kiss to James's lips.

Althea turned away, jealousy burning in her chest, stamping down the tears that had suddenly sprung to her eyes and the angry flush that had lit her cheeks. It wasn't right for her to be jealous just because James and Lily were happy, and she wasn't. But Merlin help her, she was and she didn't know what to do about it. Behind her she could hear Lily and James talking in soft voices obliviously to each other, in their happy little bubble of love, and she clenched her fists, scolding herself. She was such a terrible person.

"Thea, do you like mashed potatoes and gravy?" Lily asked, scooting around James and standing in front of her.

Althea shrugged indifferently, "Yeah. Why?"

"I'm trying to think of what we could have for a Thanksgiving meal, or for when Remus comes back," Lily explained. She smiled, "I need something to occupy my time since you and James are always so busy with Order missions, and James is busy with Auror training."

"I might actually be getting a job, soon," Althea hesitantly whispered.

Lily and James both looked at her in shock and she flushed. She hadn't planned on confiding in them so soon about it, because it had just been a silly, stupid little idea floating around in her head. But it was one that she couldn't quite get rid of. She quite liked the idea of inventing her own spells, and knew the Order had one such person within their ranks – a woman by the name of Aubrey – so a few days ago, she had written a letter to her requesting that she take her on as an apprentice. To her shock, Aubrey had agreed right away, citing her stellar grades at Hogwarts and the glowing recommendations that she has heard from those in the Order, and from her professors at Hogwarts. Of course, Althea knew that she would need a back-up plan – Aubrey had insisted on one – and so, she was also set to take up an internship at the Ministry of Magic, on their research committee.

All of these plans had come to fruition in the last forty-eight to seventy-two hours, so it was quite sudden and maybe she should have consulted with her friends – or Remus, if he was here – first. But, Althea needed something to do, and she couldn't keep mooching off of Lily and James, or continue to live with them. It was with the greatest amount of trepidation that Althea unveiled her carefully laid plans much to the astonishment of James, and the anger of Lily.

"And when did you think that you were going to tell us?" Lily demanded hotly, her hands on her hips. "Perhaps, when you were attacked at the Ministry? Or when a spell that you're trying to invent goes all wrong?"

Althea swallowed, staring at the hard, green eyes of her friend. She had never seen Lily this angry before. "Aubrey works at the Ministry, and she was the one who suggested the Research Committee to me, since she is the head of it. Besides, You-Know-Who's influence doesn't quite cover the Ministry. Yet. But as soon as it does, I will quit working there." She shifted on her feet, "I was never planning on hiding this from you Lily, I just wasn't sure on how to tell you because I feared a reaction like this." She wrapped her arms around her middle, "I can't continue to sit here and do nothing. Dumbledore hasn't sent me on any missions lately, and as much as I enjoy your company Lily, I need to go and do something else. I can't sit here stagnant, all the time."

"I understand that," Lily ground out through clenched teeth. "But it's a ridiculous notion. The wizarding world is at war, Althea. And you want to get a job?"

"I want to invent spells, and Aubrey is the only one who is able to teach me!" Althea snapped, throwing her hands into the air. "Lils, what if I invent a spell and it saves someone's life?" She sighed, "I'm not going this for glory or anything of the sort. I'm seeing it as a way to learn more, and potentially be of use to the Order. More use than I have been." When Lily still looked like she wasn't going to budge, Althea narrowed her eyes. "Fine. I see that I can't convince you, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to do this. I am. Your disapproval won't stop me."

And that was all that was said on the matter. A few days later, with things still icy between Althea and Lily, Althea Apparated to Diagon Alley near the pet emporium where Aubrey had told her they would meet. It was eerie that Diagon Alley was still so quiet and it made shivers crawl up Althea's spine and nervousness flood through her system. A tall, willowy form dressed in a vibrant green cloak, snaked through the figures clad in dark clothing and stopped in front of Althea. The figure pushed down the cowl, revealing auburn hair and bright blue eyes.

"I'm Aubrey, pleasure to meet ya," the girl said, extending a hand to shake Althea's. "I'm about twenty-seven."

"Althea. Seventeen."

Aubrey beamed, "Not much of an age gap then, huh? Well ten years, but that really isn't much, wouldn't you say? Eh, doesn't matter. Hang on tight."

Althea was so disoriented that she barely paid any attention as Aubrey Apparated them away. The first thing she realized as Aubrey led her into the house that the elder witch occupied, was that Aubrey was very eccentric as evidenced by all of the baubles and portraits occupying the house. The second thing, was that Aubrey was very talkative. Since the moment she had met Althea, Aubrey had not ceased speaking. The final thing that Althea realized, was that Aubrey despite all of her eccentricities was a phenomenal spell inventor. Although most of her spells had not yet been approved by the Ministry of Magic, because she was still developing them.

Aubrey handed a stack of papers to Althea, "Read these. They are all about spells I've created and the theory behind spell creation." She smiled, "If you want any hope at all of creating a spell, then you need to understand the theory. Have fun."

Althea gave her a shy, smile back before looking down at the papers. The first few detailed spells that Aubrey had created like _Contumesco_ (a spell that makes one swell up like a pufferfish), _Conterreo_ (a spell that induces terror) and _Complaceo_ (a spell that makes one have an uncontrollable urge to please someone).

"Those are the latest spells I've finished," Aubrey informed Althea, when she set those papers aside. "Alphabetical order."

Althea sighed again, returning her attention to the rest of the stack.

 _The basis of modern spellcraft, by the standards imposed by the Ministry of Magic, dictates the use of an incantation that is "activated" through the incantation in Latin through a medium such as a wand. However, any wizard that has managed to stay awake through Professor Binn's classes can immediately point out the fact that this could not have been the case over the centuries. It's clearly impossible that Chinese Wizards such as Dzou Yen would have used a latin incantation, or that ancient wizards such as Circe could have used Latin before the language existed in the form it does. Even the wand itself is not absolutely necessary-wandless AND incantationless casting has been demonstrated by particularly powerful wizards. Indeed, the fact that almost every wizard in hogwarts has displayed the use of incantationless, wandless magic shows that_ _ **1\. all processes involved in modern spellcasting in Great Britain are completely unecessary**_ _._

 _So how do we come to terms with the nature of wizardry? Clearly, the power doesn't lie within the incantation, since the incantation is neither necessary nor consistent from nation to nation-to imagine that Salem or Mahoutokoro Wizards use Latin like Hogwarts students would be most certainly incorrect. Moreover, the power doesn't lie within the wand, for historically wizards have demonstrated their power without the need for a wand._ _ **2\. The only constant within the process of spellcasting is the Wizard.**_ _However, the adult wizard has gone through years of schooling, and most never move beyond the use of the wand. As such, the Ministry of Magic has done its utmost to study the use of magic not in adult wizards, but in potential wizards. The key to understanding spells lies in understanding underage magic._

 _Underage magic systematically manifests in children of early adolescence who have only just began understanding their ability to use magic. Generally, they occur in moments of strong emotion, generally in accordance to the wishes of the young wizard-and particularly gifted wizards can consciously control and employ magic without ANY of the theoretical understanding that a wizard who has entered the Ministry-systematized curriculum may receive. Therefore, it seems that_ _ **3\. the catalyst for spellcasting lies within the mindset of the spellcaster.**_ _At the root of it, the ability and capacity of magic lies simply in the ability of the individual to "will" magic into existence, whether consciously or unconsciously._

"Aubrey," Althea asked after she had finished the first page. "Do you create most of your spells without a wand?"

"Of course, didn't you read the paper?" Aubrey chortled. "The only constant is the wizard, and underage magic is a prime example of that. We don't need wands to cast magic, but they are a great conductor for it." She clapped her hands together, "Ready to begin?"

Slowly Althea nodded. She was going to regret it, she was sure.


	27. Chapter Twenty-Seven

**_November 6, 1978_**

Althea padded into the house, her hand covering her mouth as she yawned. She was still wearing the clothes from yesterday because Aubrey had kept her up all day and all night working on spells. Aubrey did most of the working of course, but Althea was looking up the etymologies and assisting wherever she could. She was surprised, when she walked into the house that evening, that most of the lights were on. By now, Lily and James probably would be getting ready for bed since it was almost nine o'clock. But for whatever reason, all of the lights were on. It made her a little nervous.

Althea walked into the kitchen and her eyes went wide with surprise. James and Lily were sitting at the island, but that wasn't what surprised her. No. It was who was sitting across from them. _Remus._ He looked battered and bruised, and beyond exhausted but it was really him. As soon as he had seen her, he stood up but otherwise didn't move. It was as if he was waiting for her to make the first move. Make the first move she did.

Althea surged forward, colliding with Remus – earning a small grunt – and wrapped her arms around his waist, her head on his chest where she could hear the steady pounding of his heartbeat. A sound that she hadn't realized she was going to miss until it was no longer there.

"When did you…" Althea trailed off at a loss for words.

"Dumbledore rescued me this morning," Remus whispered his voice raspy, and a brief frown flitted across Althea's face. "I came here right away, when Sirius told me that your apartment had been sold to someone else, and you were living with Lily and James." He chuckled, "Imagine my surprise when they tell me that you aren't here."

Althea flushed, ducking her head. "I was working with Aubrey. She's a member of the Order, and she invents spells. She agreed to let me become her apprentice. I guess we got caught up in our work."

"Evidently," Remus replied, amusement heavy in his voice and Althea tipped her head back to stare at him sheepishly, a silent apology glimmering in her eyes. "It's fine, Thea. It wasn't like it was planned in advance."

"I know." She shrugged, but she still couldn't help but feel bad.

Lily huffed, "This is why you shouldn't have gotten a job."

"I can't sit around and do nothing with my life, Lily. I'm not a housewife. Not like you." Althea snapped.

Perhaps that was a low blow, given the way that James's mouth dropped open and Lily gasped. Remus tensed in her embrace and she could feel his eyes boring into her skull but she made no move to explain the situation or to backtrack. Lily crossed her arms a hurt expression making itself known on her features.

"Althea," Remus sighed, staring at her confused. "Lily's your best friend."

"I thought she was, until she didn't support me when I wanted to get a job. When I wanted to feel useful, and wanted to stop sitting here, wondering when you were going to come back," Althea answered icily. "She didn't support me."

"You didn't need to attack her," Remus whispered in her ear. When he saw that she wasn't going to budge, he sighed. "Let's get some rest, Thea."

She didn't verbally answer, however she did nod her assent and allowed Remus to draw her away from the kitchen and upstairs to the bedroom that she had been occupying. Althea reflected on her actions as she changed into her nightclothes, and sat on the bed waiting for Remus to join her, and deemed the way that she had reacted childish. But she wasn't going to go apologize to Lily, when Lily had been unsupportive and harsh in the way that she had reacted as well.

Remus crawled into bed, sidling up beside her and with a wince pulled her toward him, curling his body around hers. It was then that Althea allowed herself to relax.

Remus was here with her, and most importantly he was safe.

* * *

The next morning, things were decidedly a little awkward after the slight conflict between Lily and Althea. Lily was still stung by Althea's comments, and Althea was still more than a little irritated that Lily had not been supportive of her decision to get a job. So, breakfast was odd, since Lily and Althea weren't speaking to each other – James and Remus tried to bridge the silence and get both girls involved, but to no avail. They refused to speak or even acknowledge the other. Althea wanted to talk to Lily, but her wounded pride wouldn't let her and honestly, she didn't think that she had done anything wrong. Lily was the one who hadn't been supportive.

Lily huffed, as breakfast came to a close, getting to her feet and striding upstairs. James sighed, glancing at Althea before taking off after her. Althea sighed, resting her head on her arms as Remus's hand came to rest gently on her lower back.

"I hate fighting with Lily," Althea whispered.

"Then why are you doing it?" Remus questioned. "I'm sure you have a valid reason to be mad at her Althea, but your words did hurt her. You know that being a housewife isn't her choice – if she could, and if You-Know-Who, wasn't at large, Lily would be doing amazing things."

"I know." Althea's voice was barely above a whisper. "And I feel bad for what I said, at least a little bit. However, she didn't support my decision to get a job, and until she can, I won't apologize for what I said. I can't be friends with someone who doesn't support my decisions, and criticizes or even condescends them. I just can't do it."

Remus nodded, and the touchy subject of Lily was dropped. "Tell me about the job you got with, Aubrey."

"Oh, it's amazing Remus!" Althea gushed turning to face him with a broad smile. "She invents her own spells and charms, for the Order. After the war, she plans on getting them out there in the wizarding world, but for now only the Order has access. She's working her way through the spells alphabetically – right now she's on the letter C. She's invented the spells Contumesco, a spell that makes one swell up like a pufferfish, Conterreo, a spell that induces terror and Complaceo, a spell that makes one have an uncontrollable urge to please someone." Althea leaned toward Remus in excitement, "It's really spectacular working with her Remus, even though I admittedly haven't been working with her for that long. Yesterday, I was reading up the theory behind creating spells. It's fascinating."

"I can tell," Remus murmured affectionately watching her. "Your eyes lit up, as you were talking about it. You must really like this job."

"I do." Althea leaned back in her chair. "Of course, I took this job because I wanted to help out the Order, and if You-Know-Who, wasn't such a threat I may not have taken this job or I may have explored other options. However, time is a luxury that we cannot afford. If helping out Aubrey, will help stop Him, then I will do it."

"Althea, you've contributed so much already."

"It doesn't feel like it," she muttered.

Remus didn't know how to answer that, and they lapsed into silence. While others might insist that Althea had contributed her fair share to the Order, she didn't feel as if she was doing enough compared to Gideon and Fabian, Remus, Sirius, and all of the other members of the Order. She felt as if she was just mediocre and that was a feeling that didn't set well with her. It was a small stroke to her ego that James and Lily had done less than she had, simply because they were in hiding, so they didn't have any other choice. Still, it made her feel better.

"You are doing plenty Althea," Remus murmured. "Don't doubt yourself."

Althea nodded leaning her head against Remus's shoulder. "I should probably head to Aubrey's soon. I'll see you later?"

"I can come with you if you want," Remus offered. "I'm rather interested in creating spells, myself."

"I thought you wanted to pursue a career in Defense Against the Dark Arts," Althea said regarding him suspiciously.

"Oh, I do, but having a background in spell crafting will likely be an asset, especially given my 'furry little problem'. However, if you do mind me coming, I won't and will just do my research here."

"You can come," Althea laughed pulling Remus to his feet. "Aubrey will be delighted to meet you."

"Somehow your words make me doubt that."

"They shouldn't. She's actually quite lovely."


	28. Chapter Twenty-Eight

**_February 3, 1979_**

Althea groaned, rubbing a hand over her swollen, tired eyes. A lot had happened since November. In December, Althea and Remus had gotten married in the ceremony of Althea's dreams, although it was a quiet intimate affair with the only guests James and Lily, Dumbledore, Sirius, and Remus's father. She had worn the most gorgeous gown of white, and she would never forget the look of adoration in Remus's eyes when he first saw her. It had been a pleasant, understated ceremony, something that Althea and Remus had no problems with. After two pleasant weeks away from Britain, on the island where he had proposed to her, they had to reluctantly leave their little bubble of happiness and return home to combat You-Know-Who once more. Once home, Remus had been sent on a five-day mission to recruit some werewolves and other creatures for the Order or at least to make them start doubting Voldemort – he was successful in that and for a time the newlywed couple were left alone.

That all changed in January when Gideon contacted Althea and asked for her help. That was the day when everything changed, and it seemed that the war grew more intense. Althea, Gideon, and Fabian headed for a remote section of Britain where it was rumored sympathizers to Voldemort's cause were to be gathering but the village they had arrived in was deserted and completely void of life. In a split second everything had changed as they were set upon by Death Eaters; the three of them had managed to get away, although horribly bruised and beaten. When Remus found out he had been furious, and rightfully so since Althea hadn't given him any inkling that what she was doing with the Prewetts was dangerous (to be fair, she hadn't quire realized the magnitude of danger). Remus had immediately informed Dumbledore who had scolded the trio, but also commended them on their quick thinking and intuitiveness, and warned them not to do something that dangerous again.

The following weeks had been silent and void of activity from both the Order and Voldemort (Dumbledore had been insisting that members of the Order refer to him by his chosen name, because, 'Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself' which was the last thing he wanted). For Althea it was a little easier to do, but for Peter, and a few other members including Lily it was much harder. He had sewn fear too deep.

Althea grimaced as she passed by a small mirror in the home that she and Remus shared (they had finally gotten their own place away from the Potters, something that Althea was grateful for as there still was a little tension between her and Lily), and had moved into a small, modest house in Muggle London. They figured it would be safer for them here, as they didn't believe that the Death Eaters would think to look for them in Muggle London. It was hiding in plain sight, and so far, it had worked spectacularly. They had managed to live undetected, and avoid the Death Eaters.

But for how long would it last?

Remus stumbled into the house, snowflakes resting in his hair and on his dark jacket. He had a sheepish look on his face as he saw Althea looking at him with no small amount of curiosity and nervously he ran a hand through his tousled looks.

"Dumbledore wanted to speak with me," Remus informed her. "He had news."

"What kind of news?"

"Bad news." Remus wrung out his hands nervously, "The Death Eaters are hunting for you. They want you dead as soon as possible, Thea. There's even a bounty placed on your head, and on mine simply because my activities came to light and because I am affiliated with you."

Althea winced. "And now what will happen?"

"We keep hiding. But Dumbledore told us to be extra vigilant."

"Of course."

Althea should have known that the solution would to be staying hidden, because there was simply not other solution that would ensure that she and Remus would keep their lives. Taking the conflict with Voldemort out into the open was a surefire way to get killed, and Althea rather liked living. Althea wrapped her arms around Remus once he had drawn close enough, burying her face in his shoulder and inhaling the familiar woodsy scent that was unequivocally Remus.

"I'm scared, Rem," she whispered, her arms tightening around his waist while his arms simultaneously wrapped tighter around her shoulders. "This peace we've established seems entirely too fragile, doesn't it? Like, at the next moment it could come crashing down on us and we'll know that it was nothing but an illusion."

Remus sighed, running a hand up and down her back soothingly for a few moments. "It's okay to be frightened, Thea. But you shouldn't let it control your life, and you shouldn't let it consume you and cause you to become pessimistic. There is always hope, Thea. Dumbledore believes so, and so should we."

"Your faith in Dumbledore is commendable, really, but what if he doesn't quite know what he's doing when it comes to this situation?" Althea questioned her voice tight with worry and doubt.

"Do not dwell on the 'what if' situations, Thea. It will drive you crazy," Remus scolded her, but kept his voice gentle so as not to raise her ire or make her feel as if he was belittling her concerns. "There is no shame in worrying, but if we begin to question everything, including Dumbledore, then we are falling right into what He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, has planned. He sews discord, Thea, and He wants us to doubt Dumbledore." Remus took a deep breath and then continued, "Dumbledore is not all-knowing, but he is wise, and he has lived longer than us. On this, I would trust him, because, I think without Dumbledore, the Wizarding World would have already fallen. Don't you think?"

Reluctantly, Althea nodded her head.

"Then trust in him, Thea." He stepped away from her, making a frown briefly cross her face. "You used to trust in him."

"I know," Althea whispered, wrapping her arms around her middle, her eyes watching Remus as he stepped toward the bookshelf in the living room. "But, I'm scared, and when I'm scared I'm irrational. And for the longest time, I haven't felt anything but scared."

"Dumbledore, knows what he is doing Althea. We only need to trust him," Remus whispered, earnestly looking into her eyes.

Reluctantly Althea nodded, leaning against Remus who gently circled his arms around her waist. She needed to trust Dumbledore, she knew that, but it was hard to think rationally when she was scared. She was so scared that Voldemort would ruin everything that she had built with Remus. She didn't want to lose her husband; her cheeks flushed a little, as they always did, when she thought about Remus actually being her husband. Dumbledore, surely knew what he was doing.

He had to.

* * *

Althea kept her head bowed over the textbook that she was reading, as Aubrey wrote about the newest spells that she had created. Aubrey was jotting down the important steps, like the names of the spells, their incantations, and the wand movements that went along with each spell. Althea, on the other hand, was reading about spell theory. Again. Aubrey sometimes allowed Althea to participate in spell creation, but more often than not she wanted Althea to read about the theory behind spell creation so that when it came time for Althea to make spells on her own, she wouldn't royally screw everything up.

"How is everything going with Remus?" Aubrey asked, conversationally. Previously, the only sound that had been made before was the sound of her quill scratching on the parchment, and the sound of Aubrey turning the pages in her book.

"Perfectly fine," Althea answered. "We're surviving, and that counts for something, yeah?"

Aubrey hummed. "Life has to be about more than surviving, Althea," the older woman said. "If life were only about surviving, then you wouldn't be with Remus. Hell, none of us would probably be in Britain."

"Maybe so," Althea agreed. "But surviving is all I can do right now."

"I am certain it is not all you can do," Aubrey teased.

Althea didn't answer her. There was a _CRACK!_ and both Althea and Aubrey dropped, the latter also dropping her pen. Lily smiled sheepishly at them, an arm wrapped around James's waist and standing beside James was Remus who was staring at her apologetically because things, admittedly, were still tense between Lily and Althea. Lily looked radiant, wearing a nice long-sleeved dress with knee high boots. The color of her dress was a shade of green, which coincidentally matched the shade of the shirt that James was wearing. Those two were so irritatingly cute, that it was annoying. Remus stepped toward Althea, giving her a brief kiss in greeting before wandering around Aubrey's abode, staring at the different trinkets lining the shelves.

"What are you doing here?" Aubrey asked, gesturing toward Lily and James. "Remus I can understand, since his wife is here. But why are the two of you here?"

"We're here on business," James answered instead of Lily, because the latter was looking dumbstruck at Aubrey's rather brusque attitude. "Dumbledore said you may have a new batch of spells ready for us."

"I always have a new batch of spells," Aubrey said with a roll of her eyes. "You should be more specific." She sighed, "Are they offense? Defense? Healing? Be specific please.

"I believe he requested the offensive," Remus piped up. "Of course, he means to hide those away. For the Order, he would rather like the healing spells. We assumed that you would still be working to compile a lengthy list of defensive spells."

"You presumed rightly then," Aubrey huffed. "Take the damned spells to Dumbledore and get out. I can't have you distracting my student."

"Of course," James said, shooting a look toward Remus, and tugging Lily forward as Aubrey produced the list of spells that they so desperately wanted. "Thank you."

"Get out," Aubrey quipped.

As the three Disapparated, Althea tried in vain to hide her gleeful smile. From the way Aubrey glared at her, she wasn't very successful.


End file.
